The referendum on Moldova’s accession to the European Union will help enshrine the irreversibility of the European path and affiliation with the European space of values, ex-president of the Constitutional Court Alexandru Tănase stated after the judges of the Court on Tuesday approved of the bill to organize the plebiscite. He noted that after Moldova joins the European Union, its Constitution will be amended and the Supreme Law will include the European elections and the priority of European acts over national legislation, IPN reports.
The ex-president of the CC described as predictable the decision by the High Court, which gave a positive opinion to the bill to hold a national constitutional referendum. Thus, the plebiscite is to take place on October 20 and the question put to the citizens will be: Are you for the Republic of Moldova’s accession to the European Union?
“The Constitutional Court’s decision was expected by everyone because the bill was formulated so as not to raise too many legal questions. This referendum does not provide for accession to the European Union. We are not joining the EU as a result of this referendum. The irreversibility of the European path of the Republic of Moldova, the affiliation with the European space of values will be enshrined by this referendum. The constitutional provisions will be implemented and will be obligatory for all subsequent legislation. The Court’s decision is a very good one. I believe that in a short period of time, the Government will launch an information campaign for the people to take part in the referendum,” Alexandru Tănase stated in the talk show “In context” on the public television channel.
According to him, after joining the EU, most likely, the country’s citizens will be called again to a referendum. After accession, the Constitution will be amended and the European legislation will take precedence over the national legislation.
“It will be necessary to organize another referendum through which that delegation of sovereignty to the European Union on certain aspects will take place. It will be necessary to regulate Parliament’s role differently. Today we know very well that Parliament is the sole lawmaking authority, but after accession the European Parliament and the European Commission, their regulations and acts will take precedence over national acts. Currently, the Constitution stipulates that the Moldovan citizens are not extradited to other states. After accession, we will be obliged to amend this provision to allow for the serving of a European order and extradition to other jurisdictions within the European Union. After accession, the Moldovans will have representatives in the European Parliament. So, it will be necessary to regulate the European elections in the Constitution,” explained the former president of the Constitutional Court.
According to the draft law to amend the Constitution, the preamble of the Supreme Law will contain two new paragraphs: “Reaffirming the European identity of the people of the Republic of Moldova and the irreversibility of the European path; Declaring the integration into the European Union as a strategic objective of the Republic of Moldova”.
