Recent Evolutions Of European Trade Law And Alignement Of Albanian Legal System

This article examines recent developments in European trade and company law and assesses their implications for the progressive alignment of the Albanian legal system with the EU acquis. It first analyses the evolution of the freedom of establishment within the EU, focusing on the Court of Justice’s 2024 Edilwork 2 decision, which clarifies limits on Member States’ conflict-of-law rules that may restrict cross-border corporate mobility. The research then explores the growing importance of EU instruments governing foreign direct investment and foreign subsidies—Regulation (EU) 2019/452 and Regulation (EU) 2022/2560—highlighting their relevance for candidate countries whose investments in the EU are already subject to these frameworks. Finally, the study addresses the expansion of EU corporate sustainability legislation, particularly in the context of the European Green Deal and the new due diligence regime, and evaluates Albania’s gradual adaptation through domestic reforms on non-financial reporting, climate policy and corporate governance. Taken together, these developments demonstrate that Albania has already achieved significant substantive convergence with EU law, while full accession will entail a deeper transfer of regulatory competences to EU institutions and a more comprehensive integration of sustainability obligations into corporate practice