All actions to implement the Moldovan authorities’ commitment to reform public financial management of public finances have been fulfilled. This compartment got 5 out of 5 points in the second alternative report presented on Thursday by experts from the Institute for European Policies and Reforms (IPRE), the Independent Analytical Center Expert-Group and the Legal Resources Center (CRJM), as part of #ThinkTanks4EUMembership initiative, carried out in cooperation with the Friedrich Ebert Foundation.
Marina Soloviova, of Expert-Group, noted that in order to advance the reform, a regulation on low-value public procurement was approved. Also, a formal procedure was established to identify eligible public investment projects to be included in the draft CBTM/State Budget Law, and the scope of the existing public investment management framework was expanded to include all public capital investment projects regardless of the source of financing and the project value.
Also, a public finance management development strategy was developed for the period 2023-2030, which aims to improve the quality of macroeconomic and fiscal forecasts, establish an appropriate accounting and reporting system in the public sector, continuously develop the public finance management information system and ensure the use of public funds according to the principles of good governance.
Vitalie Rapcea, also from Expert-Grup, named another step of the reform: the increase in the effective limit of ministries, which should allow them to be more efficient. Also, 12 digital cadastral services were launched and another 11 were integrated with the MDelivery service.
Adrian Lupușor, executive director at Expert-Grup, said that there are two strategic objectives in terms of public property. One is strengthening the Public Property Agency, which needs to be restructured so that it plays a greater role in promoting corporatization among state companies, while micro-management should be assigned to executive management bodies in state companies. The second is implementing the Public Property Strategy, a document that contains conceptual and fundamental measures. In his opinion, the state must ensure the professionalization of administrative boards. He also said that it is ultra-important to digitize information on public property in general, including the Public Property Agency.
Daniel Goinic, CRJM expert, said that as regards cooperation with civil society, all actions were completed. With two actions, some implementation deficiencies were found, resulting in an overall score of 4.6 out of 5 points. In another achievement in this compartment, the Parliament adopted the Law on Information of Public Interest.
In the field of human rights protection, all actions have been implemented, with the alternative report rating the overall effort at 4.75 out of 5 points. According to Stas Ghilețchi, expert at IPRE, changes were made in the normative framework to ensure non-discrimination and equality, and this included the expansion of discrimination criteria and the modification of the Contravention Code. The Government approved the 2023-2027 Program for promoting and ensuring equality between women and men, as well as the 2023-2027 National Program for preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence.
The commitment related to the implementation of OSCE/ODIHR recommendations in the field of electoral reform was achieved earlier, being rated in the first report at 4 out of 5 points. In its interim assessment of May 2023, the European Commission considered this condition to be fulfilled.
