On 22 February 2023, the Council of Ministers approved in principle the signing of the Financing Agreement between the European Commission and the Republic of Albania on the Annual Action Plan (AAP) for 2022 under the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) III. The EU contribution of EUR 82.6 million will supports six actions in the areas of environment, youth, democracy, EU acquis alignment, fight against organised crime, and judiciary.

The Financing agreement will now be signed by the European Commission and then be submitted to the Albanian authorities for their counter-signature and further approval in the Council of Ministers.  The pre-accession assistance instrument IPA supports EU candidate countries in adopting and implementing key political, institutional, social and economic reforms to comply with EU values and to progressively align with EU rules, standards and policies.