Following the official opening of accession negotiations with Moldova at the Intergovernmental Conference on 25 June (see EUROPE 13440/8), the European Commissioner for Enlargement, Olivér Várhelyi, visited the Moldovan Republic to officially mark the start of the process.
Moldova faces a number of challenges on the road to EU membership, mainly in terms of its economic situation and the judicial and administrative reforms that need to be undertaken (see EUROPE 13436/31).
Despite this, the country has managed to make a number of notable advances and has benefited from European economic aid through the Economic and Investment Plan (EIP), which amounts to €1.5 billion, to make progress towards the EU’s objectives.
“The Parliament has delivered in many, many reforms that have been long outstanding, especially when it comes to the rule of law area and its critical issues like reform of the judiciary and the fight against corruption. These were very important to achieve the start of the accession negotiations”, stressed the Commissioner at a joint press briefing with the Moldovan Prime Minister, Dorin Recean, on Wednesday 10 July.
While the official launch of the process marks an important and symbolic step for Moldova, “the bulk of the work remains to be done”, warned Olivér Várhelyi.
“We have 1200 Commission experts with over 4000 highly relevant questions that will be addressed, and you have 150,000 pages of EU acquis to go through”, he explained. “And that means that Moldova is going to have to take a stand on every specific aspect of European legislation and give concrete and credible details of how you will be able to apply these rules”.
Olivér Várhelyi also added that it was crucial for the country to strengthen its economy and make it more resilient, as well as its energy capacity and infrastructure. Dorin Recean admitted that at this stage, the most complex sectors for Moldova to tackle remain the environment, agriculture and competitiveness.
The country submitted its bid in March 2022 and received candidate status in June of the same year. (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)