In 2009, the relations between the European Union and Moldova faced a serious challenge following the April 5 parliamentary elections. After the July elections, the efforts to implement structural reforms were stepped up, mainly in the last quarter of the year. These are some of the conclusions of the progress country report under the European Neighborhood Policy that was presented in Brussels on May 12, Info-Prim Neo reports. “2009 was a challenging year, a period of instability that hindered the reformation process and affected a number of key principles of the EU-Moldova relations,” the Head of the European Union to Moldova Dirk Schuebel told a news conference after the presentation of the report. The street protests were held with violations of the human rights and intimidation of businesses and representatives of the civil society, the official said, adding that effort was then made to renew the relationship between Moldova and the EU. “I'm glad that Moldova managed to achieve considerable results in such areas as the customs, phytosanitary control and fiscal services,” Dirk Schuebel said. He stressed that the Government of Moldova last October signed an agreement with the IMF that was followed by an economic stabilization program. The dialogue between the Government and the civil society has improved. Moldova took important steps to ensure the observance of human rights. In December, it became a member of the Energy Community. Concerning the Moldova-EU talks on the Association Agreement, the official says they are developing surprisingly fast. “This demonstrates that we continue supporting Moldova in the process of carrying out reform”, said Dirk Schuebel. At the same time, Dirk Schuebel mentioned that Moldova was still facing political, economic and social challenges. “We'd like to see more progress – reform of justice, consolidation of the rule of law, respect for human rights”, said the European official. Asked whether the imminent early elections could somehow influence the pace of reform, Dirk Schuebel said any election campaign was a delay in the progress of reform, but hoped that the campaign would not last too long and there would be a fast return to the “relationship that has been great and has progressed very fast”. Today the European Commission published the so-called neighborhood package, consisting of an overall assessment of five years of implementation of the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) 2009, including an assessment of Moldova's progress.