THE STATE OF NOMINAL AND REAL CONVERGENCE OF ALBANIA IN THE CONTEXT OF ITS EU ACCESSION
Authors: Silvia Kirova, Enida Istrefi
Abstract
The paper aims to explore the state of nominal and real convergence of Albania, as well as some factors that are determinants of the catching-up process and might explain the results so far. The topic is of particular interest as in July 2022 the EU accession negotiations with Albania were launched. Therefore, it is relevant to research to what extent the country fulfills the Maastricht criteria and what is the state of real convergence, as they have a significant impact on the smooth integration of the economy in the internal market and eventually in the euro adoption process. The focus is on Albania and where appropriate, comparisons will be made with the other Western Balkan countries which have an EU candidate status