The obtaining by the Republic of Moldova of the EU candidate status is a major challenge. No one from the Brussels or elsewhere will come to work instead of the government, Felix Hett, of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in Ukraine and Moldova, stated in the presentation of the State of the Nation Report 2022, IPN reports.
“The general challenge for such reports is that we must be very critical of the own government, but should also understand the developments witnessed in the country. It is not always so easy to implement recommendations given that this year the report focuses also on the European Union candidate status obtained by the Republic of Moldova. We must realize one thing: no one in Brussels or elsewhere will work instead of you,” stated Felix Hett.
Dionis Cenușa, “Expert-Grup” program director, said the EU candidate status shows that Moldova will be guided and supervised in the amendment of laws and their adjustment to the European practices.
“This roadmap consists of 13 measures that refer to and reflect structural problems experienced by the Republic of Moldova and are connected with several areas, such as: corruption, local public administration, human rights and civil society. These reform sensitive areas are not characteristic for the Republic of Moldova only. They can also be found in the EU documents on Ukraine, Georgia and the Western Balkan,” stated Dionis Cenușa.
The expert noted that the political players in Chisinau show to be involved and take part in sometimes strategic discussions held in European institutions, but this does not mean that there are no risks in the pre-accession process.
“Even if the government tries to implement particular reform swiftly, we should not forget about the democratic procedure that would enable the experts and society to debate and formulate proposals so as to prevent particular mistakes and to make sure that the reforms are comprehensive,” stated Dionis Cenușa.
The report authors noted that the political alignment of the branches of power generated both advantages and disadvantages.
“The created political reality should offer the possibility of doing reforms faster. But this alignment by the government undermined the principle of separation of the branches of power. We have reports showing that most of the bills reach Parliament non-transparently. On the one hand, there is a shortage of parliamentary control. On the other hand, there is a shortage of accountability in Parliament over the public policies,” said Adrian Lupușor, “Expert-Grup” executive director. He noted that the moment is now historic as there are capacities and arguments to persuade society that the integration into the EU is the optimal solution for developing the country.
Expert Dionis Cenușa said Moldova should make sure there are sufficient political alliances inside the European Union.
“We cannot bank only on a low number of states. We must create the broadest alliances so that we enjoy extensive support in the process of promoting particular projects, including financing, from European funds. It is important that the authorities prepare and start a process of lobbying for the European Union’s financial program until 2027 so that Moldova secures sufficient funds for doing important reforms,” he stated.
The State of the Nation Report was produced by the Independent Think Tank “Expert Grup” and the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Moldova. In the context of the granting of the EU candidate status to Moldova, this year’s edition of the report, besides the traditional chapters, contains a special chapter that analyses the process of “Europeanizing” reforms, the EU conditionality and the “roadmap” of the Republic of Moldova.
