At the Vilnius Eastern Partnership Summit of November 29, 2013, Moldova will enter a new stage of relations with the European Union. What will it bring and how will it influence the life of the Moldovans from the country and from abroad? What will each of us gain and what should we do for this benefit to become possible? How will the new conditions affect Moldova’s relations with other countries? The IPN Agency aims to look for answers to these and other questions worrying society, together with you, within the series of articles “Association with the EU to everyone’s understanding
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If the EU tomorrow decides that only fish of species x should be caught with tools of type y, this will be compulsory for all the member states. The compulsoriness comes from the community acquis that Moldova will have to respect after it becomes an EU member state. The community acquis represents all the common rights and obligations that derive from the status of member state of the European Union.
Natalia Chirtoaca, consultant at the International Law and International Relations Section of the Legal and Political Research Institute of the Academy of Sciences, said that after the Association Agreement is initialed in Vilnius and after its is signed, ratified and comes into force, Moldova will have to take definite and well-planned steps to adjust the legislation to the 31 chapters of the acquis. The Association Agreement must envision definite steps for harmonizing the national legislation. Based on it, there will be signed special agreements to adjust the legislation. The most important chapters of the community acquis for Moldova are those that refer to agriculture and rural development and the policy in the transport, competition and health protection sectors.
Doctor of Law Alexandru Cauia said the community acquis has 31 chapters with 90,000 norms that were adopted after 1951. They represent all the normative documents concerning the institutional system of the EU. They are mandatory for the EU member states.
Moldova will have to negotiate this community acquis. It will be able to do this after the Association Agreement takes effect and it has the status of candidate of the EU and files an application for accession, said foreign policy expert Victor Juc. “The negotiations on the community acquis with Moldova haven’t started. But the Government of Moldova, having the text of the community acquis in the Romanian language, as it was translated by Romania that is an EU member state, is trying to adjust the national legislation to the European standards and even to implement them where it is possible,” said the expert.
Victor Juc also said that the every chapter of the community acquis is negotiated with different commissions. When the European Commission is considering that a chapter was closed, it is understood that a chapter was negotiated. Until all the 31 chapters are not closed, the European Commission can return to a closed chapter and open it again, arguing that there appeared certain problems. “Consequently, the negotiation process is a long-lasting one and the candidate state must be permanently on alert,” he stated.
Asked how the ordinary people can contribute, the experts said they must support the government in its efforts, understand the priorities and possibilities that appear and constantly learn what the EU is and what benefits we can enjoy.
Irina Ţurcanu, IPN
