Annual assessments: Reforms in the Western Balkans and Turkey
The European Commission (EC) has recently published its annual assessments of the implementation of reforms in the Western Balkan partners and Turkey , together with recommendations on the next steps for those countries. The adopted documents include among others the area of environment and climate change (Chapter 27).

The adopted assessments and recommendations point out
to progress made by individual countries and level of preparation to the EU
membership. The recommendations focus on key areas where efforts of countries
are required in terms of implementing and aligning with EU acquis. In addition,
the Commission decided to recommend that the Council opens accession
negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia.
In the area of environment
and climate, in the case of most of the countries limited progress was achieved
in aligning legislation and policies with acquis. However, still major efforts
are required covering all key areas including: horizontal legislation, water
management, waste, air quality and nature protection. The EPPA project will
provide significant input supporting countries in their efforts in that field
over the next almost 3 years.
More information
together with the country reports is available here: https://ec.europa.eu/neighbourhood-enlargement/news_corner/news/reforms-western-balkans-and-turkey-annual-assessments-and-recommendations_en