Members of CoR delegation back Albanian accession to EU, but stress need for sustained improvements.

The possibility that Serbia and Montenegro could join the European Union in 2025, a conditional target date proposed by the European Commission, should encourage municipal and regional reform across the Western Balkans, speakers said on 4 May during the leading annual conference focused on the local and regional dimension of EU accession. The European Commission and the presidency of the Council of the EU were among those who, during the Enlargement Day conference organised by the European Committee of the Regions (CoR), emphasised that the success of the EU's next enlargement will heavily depend on cities and regions.

European Committee of the Regions backs EU strategy aimed at enabling the accession of Western Balkan countries starting in 2025

On 22 March Dimitris Avramopoulos, European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, will discuss progress of the European Union's migration agenda with local and regional politicians, many of whom host refugees and new arrivals from the Middle East and North Africa. The migration debate kicks off the European Committee of the Regions' plenary session in Brussels that will also focus on the EU's possible enlargement to the Western Balkans. Johannes Hahn, the EU's Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy & Enlargement Negotiation, will participate in the debate.