“The text of the amendment to the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova, which will be proposed at the referendum of October 20, 2024, is in accordance with the practices established by the EU member states throughout their entry into the mentioned community. The arguments of the opponents of European integration, who aim to discredit the referendum, are false...”
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Deliberate disinformation or ignorance?
The referendum of October 20, 2024 on amending the Constitution for enshrining the European integration mobilizes both the political forces that support and those that challenge the European course of the Republic of Moldova. This is a normal process, when the pros and cons of integration into the European Union (EU) are contrasted. The aim is for the citizens to be able to create correct, appropriate opinions about the country’s eventual accession to the EU, its remaining in the current state or the accession to the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), as an alternative to EU integration. Contradictory debates and a competition of arguments would be welcome, if a number of political parties did not resort to deliberate actions of disinformation or to the spread of falsehoods out of their own ignorance.
An example of deliberate disinformation about European integration or spreading of falsehoods out of ignorance concerns the Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova (PCRM). In this regard, on June 28, 2024, the Political Executive Committee of the Central Committee of the PCRM adopted the resolution on the attitude towards the constitutional referendum of October 20, 2024, which states that the proposed constitutional amendments will be useless and absurd. The strongest argument invoked by the PCRM is as follows: “After all, in no country in the world, including the EU member states, European integration is included in the constitution.” In fact, it is a huge untruth, which can be easily refuted by simply consulting the texts of the constitutions of the EU member states. Those interested can see that the supreme laws or constitutional acts, in the case of 23 member states out of the 27, expressly refer to the subject of accession to the EU, also establishing the relationship of powers between the states and the European community.
The disinformation promoted by the PCRM attracts attention also due to the fact that the PCRM leaders are among those who formalized the European integration of the Republic of Moldova through various acts of public and internal party institutions, including through:
- presidential decree of 13 November 2002 on the establishment of the National Commission for European Integration;
- drafting and proposing for voting the Declaration of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova of March 24, 2005 on the political partnership for achieving the objectives of European integration, which provides for the irreversibility of the strategic course towards European integration, unanimously supported by the members of the legislative body;
- amendment of the statute and program of the party on March 15, 2008, including to stipulate that “the PCRM pleads for European integration, for reforming the country and society in accordance with democratic, legal, economic and social standards” etc.
In fact, these actions should not be surprising because the PCRM, like a real political weathervane, has changed its political attitudes more than once, either arbitrarily or depending on the circumstances. This is what happened in 2002, when, instead of the promised integration into the Russia-Belarus Union, the PCRM unexpectedly proclaimed European integration, which it had later declared irreversible. Respectively, we were not surprised when the PCRM in 2016 abandoned the European integration in favor of balanced, multi-vector relations. It is true that we were surprised, probably not all of us, only some of us, by the theoretical, Marxist-Leninist foundation of the principle of the PCRM’s multi-vector policy: the gentle calf sucks from two cows. Probably, this is how the gerontocracy syndrome that the PCRM leaders suffer from manifests itself as these forget about what can happen to those who try to stay with the feet in two boats or to sit on two chairs. There is another aspect here, which does not deserve to be overlooked. The thing is that if we meditate a little, we can come to the conclusion that, usually, gentle calves are also followers of permanent neutrality, that is they do not make any difference between abusers and victims. This is also the case of various political pupils of the PCRM, who plead against joining the EU, but in favor of neutrality, probably so as to suck from two cows.
Returning to the issue of reflection of European integration in the constitutions of EU member states, we should note that the PCRM has shown traditional approaches to this subject. The fact is that this time, misleading the citizens through changes of scenery is replaced, after all, with banal disinformation.
Constitutional provisions of member states on their integration into the EU
It should be noted that the EU does not impose any rules regarding the enshrining in the supreme laws of the member states or of the candidate states of bilateral and multilateral relations within the community. These relations are established in the treaties and agreements signed, based on the general principles of international law. Respectively, it is the obligation of each state to respect the commitments assumed by the concluded agreements and treaties. That is why amending the constitutions of EU or candidate member states depends on specifying in the supreme laws the ways in which they will achieve this. Proof of this is served, for example, by Article 65(1) of the Constitution of Malta, which provides that: “Based on the provisions of the Constitution, Parliament can make laws for the peace, order and good governance of Malta, in accordance with human rights, the generally accepted principles of international law and the international and regional obligations of Malta, in particular those assumed by the Treaty of Accession to the European Union, signed in Athens on 16 April 2003".
As the exceptions confirm the rule, it is important to return to the four EU member states, which in their constitutions do not refer to the EU in any way – Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Denmark and Poland. In the case of Luxembourg and the Netherlands, things can be easily understood – these states were among the founders of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), from which the EU grew. Respectively, the supreme laws of these two countries were adapted to the subsequent European integration before the transformation of the ECSC into the EU. As for Poland, which joined the EU in 2004, things are equally clear – the country’s supreme law was amended to contain very clear clauses, common to all EU member states, relating to “specific sovereign powers” that can be transferred to intergovernmental organizations and other states by an act of parliament or by an approved treaty. From a constitutional point of view, such general provisions, with different variations, are sufficient for joining the EU.
Referring to the text of the amendment to the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova for the referendum of October 20, 2024, proposed by the Parliament and endorsed by the Constitutional Court, we can conclude that it had among the sources of inspiration the provisions of the Constitution of Spain. Thus, Article 93 of Chapter III, International Treaties, of the Spanish Constitution, stipulates the following: “Authorization may be granted by an organic law for the inclusion of treaties by which the powers deriving from the Constitution are transferred to an international organization or institution. It is incumbent on the Parliament (Cortes Generales) or the Government, as the case may be, to ensure compliance with these treaties and with the resolutions emanating from the international and supranational organizations to which such powers have been transferred.” Anyone can see that broadly speaking, the text of the amendment to the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova, proposed for the referendum, has essentially practically the same content, presented differently.
Conclusions
The text of the amendment to the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova, which will be proposed at the referendum of October 20, 2024, is in accordance with the practices established by the EU member states throughout their entry into the mentioned community. The arguments of the opponents of European integration, who aim to discredit the referendum, are false.
If the citizens vote for the amendments proposed in the referendum, then these will be sufficient for the creation of the general constitutional framework on the eventual accession to the EU, after the conclusion of the accession negotiations. The amendments also stipulate the mechanism for the entry into force of the accession treaty, after its conclusion. The texts of the constitutions of the EU member states suggest that the Republic of Moldova could adopt other constitutional amendments on certain specific topics, if necessary.