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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The European integration is a process consisting of both benefits and responsibilities, but to Moldova the integration into the EU will definitely bring more benefits, consider Lilia Snegureac, head of the Resource Center “Dialog-Pro”. According to her, the advantages include the implementation of European standards, achievement of stability of institutions that ensure democracy and the rule of law, financial resources allocated through the agency of different programs, investments that would enable to increase the ordinary people’s welfare, extension of the export markets, and, possibly, the quicker settlement of the Transnistrian conflict.
It is important that the people also know the possible disadvantages like the rise in taxes and the increase in foreign investments that will benefit the foreign investors only, not yet the national ones. But they will be short-term ones and will in time transform into benefits too. In order to minimize the impact of the disadvantages, the people must be constantly informed and prepared for possible changes.
The European integration of Moldova represents a complex process of reforms that the people must fully understand so as to support it. It implies a new lifestyle, new behavior and new inter-human relations. Today, every person must feel involved in the socioeconomic and political life so as to perceive and know the essence of changes, the new regulations, rights and responsibilities. “The people want to see improvements in the quality of life when progress is made in the dialogue and negotiations with the EU,” said Lilia Snegureac.
She considers that the ordinary people want to know when they will be able to travel visa-free, how the economic reforms will improve the living standards, what are the accession costs and who will cover them, if the salaries of budget-funded employees and pensions will rise, how the structural reform will be done in agriculture, how and when they will be able to access European funds. “I think that namely the changes that will take place after the signing of the Association Agreement will take Moldova out of the category of the poorest and most corrupt European states. Our welfare depends namely on these changes,” she stated.
Undoubtedly, the current government made significant progress in the dialogue with the EU, but it has yet a lot to do to improve the communication with the people. Communication represents a very important and efficient instrument. Only the communication will help the ordinary people understand the reform process and the legislation so that they contribute to a better implementation and adjustment to the new living standards and to the use of the possibilities offered by the specialized European programs.
The people now need information about the functioning of the EU, the rights and obligations of the EU citizens, the aims of the European community. The results of the social, infrastructure, economic and environment projects should be better promoted. The public debates are another dialogue method with the people. By them the people can be informed about the benefits and disadvantages of the European integration process, but they should involve representatives of the central and local public authorities and of EU embassies, and EU experts. The authorities can also establish partnership relations with the media.
They discuss a lot and often, but the pole do not yet understand the difference between a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area and a Free Economic Zone. The people do not know what exactly will happen in Vilnius and what will follow next, what is initialing and what will they initial. “I do not want to diminish our people’s capacity to understand the European scientific categories and terminology, but a sincere, simple and correct dialogue where the people will be able to find answers to their questions would be more efficient,” said Lilia Snegureac.
As to opposition MPs’ assertions that the provisions of the Association Agreement should have been made public, Lilia Snegureac said no agreement that is being negotiated is published. This is a practice of many international organizations. “These are cheap speculations and this thing should be explained to the people. The authorities fully respected the generally accepted conditions. After it is initialed in Vilnius, the agreement will certainly be made public,” she stated.
Mariana Galben, IPN
