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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Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia are the EaP member states with the greatest accomplishments in the European integration process. They worked out sweeping reforms aimed at changing the peoples’ living standards and the quality of life, but the real benefits of reforms will be felt when the mentality of the people changes, considers program director at the Foreign Policy Association (APE) Victoria Bucataru.

Moldova is a leader in the Eastern Partnership as regards the adjustment of the national legislation to the European standards, but it also has shortcomings, including the absence of a strategy for informing the population. “A wide campaign is needed to inform the people about the changes required in the process of meeting the European standards. Practically all the events are now taking place at the level of institutions. The Moldovan people should know the benefits and responsibilities that appear when coming closer to the EU. The informing is the responsibility not only of the Government, but also of civil society,” said the expert.

Victoria Bucataru stated that there were also misinformation campaigns, like in the case of the Law on Equality of Chances. It was thought that the given law refers only to the sexual minorities, but this is not true. It refers to different socially vulnerable groups, including the persons with disabilities. It is very important that the reforms be explained and discussed with civil society and the population.

The reforms must change the people’s mentality and it’s not enough for a person to be penalized for giving or taking bribe. The people must understand that it’s not right to bribe. Corruption will decrease only when this thing is realized. Emphasis should be first of all put on education, said the APE program director.

Belarus lags behind in implementing reforms. The relations of this EaP country with the EU do not develop.

The signing of the Association Agreement with the EU will give an impetus to making progress in implementing reforms and we will start to follow an irreversible path to European integration. The APE expert underlined that the integration into the EU is a long-term process, but for Moldova it is important to adjust the national legislation to the European one so as to change the people’s way of life. The European Union is aware of the existing problems and of the fact that they cannot be solved during a year. Moldova’s shortcomings include the reform of the justice system, the fight against corruption and the lack of political will that would make the institutions move on. Even so, Moldova is a leader in the EaP as regards the liberalization of the visa regime.  

Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine are at an advanced stage in the bilateral relations with the EU and the completion of the negotiations on the Association Agreement is a proof of this. Thus, Moldova and Georgia are to initial the Association Agreement with the EU, while Ukraine is to sign it. At the opposite pole in the Eastern Partnership is Armenia, which announced that it wants to join the Customs Union. In this case, Armenia will not be able to sign the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement with the EU. Before announcing its intentions to join the Customs Union, Armenia was in the process of initialing the Association Agreement. As regards the accomplishments of other EaP member states in the European integration process, Belarus didn’t hold many talks with the EU, while Azerbaijan is negotiating the Association Agreement and the negotiations may be closed in the near future.

Victoria Bucataru added that Moldova made the best progress in liberalizing the visa regime. The Moldovan authorities moved to the second stage of the Visa Liberalization Action Plan with the EU and make effort to complete it by the Vilnius Summit of this November so as to switch to the technical procedures.

Alina Marin, IPN