Dutch Parliament approves Albania’s SAA

TIRANA, Nov. 26 – The Parliament of the Kingdom of the Netherlands gave its approval to the Stabilization and Association Agreement between the European Union and Albania, thus bringing the procedure for ratification of the Agreement by the Netherlands close to completion, said a statement.
Publication of the Dutch law concerning the approval of the ratification of the Stabilization and Association Agreement in the Dutch Bulletin of Acts and Decrees is expected within the next few weeks. The instrument of ratification will then be submitted to the EU as the depositary of the Agreement, concluding the Dutch ratification procedure. This will make the Netherlands the thirteenth country to ratify this Agreement.
Netherlands becomes the 14th EU member country to approve that.
SAA was signed in June 2007 and is considered as a first step toward membership. All EU member countries should ratify it before the country passes on to the next stage as a candidate.
“Recent ratification shows that Albania is in the proper road on the implementation of the reforms and fulfilling the obligations coming out of the SAA,” said Integration Minister Majlinda Bregu hailing the Dutch approval.