Between now and the end of the year, or by early 2025 at the latest, the European Commission plans to propose accelerating trade liberalisation with Moldova. The exact form of this next stage in the abolition of tariff quotas (total or partial liberalisation) is being negotiated with Chișinău, which initiated the request.
Under the EU/Moldova Association Agreement, which came into force in 2016, tariff quotas are to be phased out over a ten-year period. Following this timetable, trade is currently limited only by tariff quotas on seven products (tomatoes, garlic, table grapes, apples, cherries, plums and grape juice).
In 2022, however, the European Commission proposed temporarily suspending these tariff quotas. This suspension has been renewed twice and now runs until July 2025.
Despite these autonomous trade measures taken in 2022, imports from Moldova fell by 7% in 2023. The main products imported are machinery and equipment, mineral products and chemical and related products.
In contrast, EU exports to Moldova rose slightly (+2%) in 2023 compared to the previous year, reaching €4.8 billion. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)