The political difficulties hinder the good implementation of reforms and commitments assumed before the EU. Moldova made moderate progress in the European integration process in October-December 2014, but also has serious shortcomings. Such conclusions are contained in the report “Euromonitor”, which presents the developments and challenges in the European integration process. It is produced by the Association for Participatory Democracy ADEPT and the Independent Analytical Center “Expert-Grup”, IPN reports.
In a news conference at IPN, ADEPT associate expert Mariana Kalughin said a number of steps were taken to reform the justice sector. They included the drafting and adoption of bills, the naming of judges and selection of judges of the Supreme Court of Justice, the formulation of the draft law on the training of prosecutors, judges and other persons in the legal system. Among the main shortcomings in the implementation of the justice sector reform strategy is the delayed reformation of the prosecution service. As a result, €1.8 million promised by the EU for reforming justice wasn’t allocated. Also, the norms of conduct and integrity in the national law enforcement bodies weren’t worked out.
As regards the basic human rights, ADEPT director Igor Botan said the legislative body didn’t manage to adopt a series of laws aimed at ensuring the better protection of these rights at the end of its mandate. The bill to institute a gender representation quota in the political sphere so as to ensure the women’s active participation in decision-making wasn’t adopted in the final reading. No compromise was reached as regards the candidates for the post of people’s ombudspersons.
Igor Botan also said that the number of cases of torture in 2014 fell by about 8% on 2013, but remains yet high. Last year Moldova lost 24 cases at the ECHR, by five more than in 2013.
Economic expert Iurie Morcotilo said that even if the medium-term fiscal-budgetary policy for 2015 started to be worked out, the 2015 budget hasn’t been adopted because the legislature is not yet functional. As a result, the situation in the national economy remains highly uncertain and postpones the approval of essential changes in the fiscal-budgetary policy for an indefinite period.
Speaking about the economic component of the Association Agreement with the EU,”Expert-Grup” executive director Adrian Lupusor said the foundation for implementing this accord was cracked and this compromised the pace of reforms in 2015.
As regards progress, expert Denis Cenusa said the process of issuing the phytosanitary certificate for export was simplified by halving the number of documents needed by economic entities. This will cause the costs for obtaining this certificate to fall by 70% and the waiting time by 50%.
“Euromonitor” is issued quarterly to inform the public and foster its active participation in debates centering on the European integration process.
