The Republic of Moldova will not negotiate the contribution to the budget of the European Union. However, the contribution is calculated on the basis of economic indicators such as VAT, excise duties, etc. and not through separate negotiations, Watchdog.md expert Andrei Curăraru said in the context of statements made today by the leader of the Moldova Platform Irina Vlah in a news conference at IPN. He also said that the referendum on European integration was proposed to find an overwhelming majority in support of this path and, if Irina Vlah considers that the question about the country’s neutrality should be asked during this exercise, she has to only collect 100,000 signatures and initiate her own referendum, IPN reports.
“Missis Vlah said that we will negotiate with the EU our contribution to the budget, but this is not true. Each country'’ contribution to the budget depends on its net national income. Depending on how much we earn, part of this contribution goes immediately to the EU, as does a small part of the value added tax, excise duties on sugar, as well as import duties. This is not negotiated with the EU and cannot be negotiated,” explained Andrei Curăraru.
Also, according to him, Irina Vlah hinted that Moldova could negotiate some facilitated regimes for exporters. “In fact, the exporters are the biggest beneficiaries of European integration because they will no longer pay import duties in the EU, which is by far our biggest economic partner and which will also help us through the agency of the common monetary policy and the common customs policy. At the same time, we will also have transition periods during which to help our producers, especially agricultural producers, to be better placed in this market,” the expert noted.
Andrei Curăraru also referred to the statement about the initiative to confirm neutrality in Moldova. According to him, this fact is already enshrined in the Constitution and currently there is no parliamentary majority to amend the Constitution. “This move is declarative, that is it is very conveniently connected somehow with the fact that there is a war on the territory of Ukraine, but she does not mention who initiated this war. And she does not mention the Russian Federation, which is the main threat to the national security of the Republic of Moldova,” said Andrei Curăraru.
As for Irina Vlah’s statements that the referendum on European integration is just a PR action, the expert admitted this partially, namely in the sense that most of the states that joined the EU held referendums a year before integration. But there are numerous examples, such as Norway, the UK or even Greenland, which raised the issue with citizens when it was not clear where society stood. For example, Norway has twice decided that it does not want to enter the EU.
The leader of the Moldova Platform Irina Vlah said that the referendum announced by the head of state has nothing to do with the vote for accession to the European Union. According to her, it is a PR action in the interests of a politician, which will be financed with state budget funds and which does not bring Moldova closer to the European Union.
