Brussels, 29/02/2012 (Agence Europe) - Kicking off the talks in Chisinau on 27 February for a deep and comprehensive free trade agreement (DCFTA) between the EU and Moldova, Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht and Moldovan Prime Minister Vladimir Filat said they were hoping for an agreement by autumn 2013. Moldova is already well-advanced in its reform process, being willing to speed up its regulatory convergence efforts, and, as the trade commissioner pointed out, “negotiations should only take a relatively short time”. The talks come within a broader framework of an association agreement negotiated since January 2010 for extending the scope of current cooperation between the EU and Moldova, governed by a partnership and cooperation agreement in force since July 1998.
Addressing the national media, De Gucht and Filat prided themselves on the advantages that the future free trade area would hold for Moldovan firms, which would have to adjust to European standards. As Moldova already enjoys preferential access to the EU market via an autonomous trade preferences mechanism, gains made from future trade agreements will result from the lifting of regulatory barriers. De Gucht and Filat also noted that the agreement could facilitate reintegration of Moldova and Transnistria, a breakaway republic located to the east of the country at the border with Ukraine, with autonomous EU preferences being extended to Moldovan companies based in that region.
The EU, which absorbs 50% of Moldovan exports and is at the source of 44% of its imports, is Moldova's main trading partner. Bilateral trade amounted to €2.7 billion in 2011.
The first negotiating session is to be held in Brussels from 19 to 23 March. (EH/transl.jl)