IPN on November 6 published an OP-ED article entitled “Legitimacy of governments of EaP, survival of European course and Moldova” that was written by political pundit Dionis Cenusa. The author of the article says no ruling party will be able to do unpopular reforms if it does not have sufficient legitimacy. According to him, public opinion will not give a vote of confidence if it is not satisfied with the quality of the rulers. The lower are the criteria for assessing governance by the public, the lesser is the integrity, professionalism and efficiency of the government compared with the governments of the EU member states. Read more…
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EU Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström paid a visit to Chisinau during November 6-7, 2017. The European official took stock of the progress and challenges witnessed in the EU-Moldova commercial relationship. While in Chisinau, the EU Commissioner had meetings with President Igor Dodon, Prime Minister Pavel Filip, Deputy Prime Minister Octavian Calmaac, Minister of Economy and Infrastructure, and with Parliament Speaker Andrian Candu. Cecilia Malmström also met with members of the European Business Association and with representatives of civil society. Read more…
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A kindergarten in Falesti town benefits from hot water generated by solar panels and heating from biomass energy thanks to the European Union’s investments. The installation of the biomass thermal system and solar panels was financed by the EU-funded Energy and Biomass Project, which allocated over €65,000 from European funds, while the local administration contributed about 300,000 lei, and parents 12,000 lei. The old coal based heating system was replaced with a new biomass one that produces local and clean energy. The heating system has a capacity of about 200 KW and heats over 1,300 square meters. Read more…
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The signing of the Association Agreement with the European Union allowed creating the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area between the EU and Moldova. This facilitated the adoption of a number of laws that regulate foreign trade, competition, protection of industrial property rights, and the adjustment of the legislation to the international legal framework. Consequently, trade in goods and services was liberalized. The duties and technical and non-tariff barriers were diminished, Deputy Minister of Economy and Infrastructure Vitalie Iurcu stated in the international forum “Invest Gagauzia” that was held in Comrat on November 4. Read more…
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Latvia reiterates its continuous support for Moldova’s European course and in the reform process in a number of areas. Latvian Minister of Foreign Affairs Edgars Rinkēvičs told about this in a meeting with his Moldovan counterpart Andrei Galbur in Chisinau on November 6. After the meeting, the two officials signed a bilateral intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in education, culture, youth and sport. In a news conference, Andrei Galbur said the Latvian official was paying the visit in a jubilee context – the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Moldova and Latvia. It is a quarter of a century during which Latvia has been an active supporter and promoter of the reform and European modernization processes in Moldova. Read more…
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The Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA) brought substantial benefits to the economy of the Republic of Moldova. After three years of implementation, Moldova’s exports to the EU market rose by two thirds, while imports from the EU into Moldova grew by 50%, EU Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström said in a news conference held in Chisinau together with Prime Minister Pavel Filip. The DCFTA provided to Moldova preferential access to the largest market of the world, duty-free export and many investment opportunities. The Premier and Cecilia Malmström discussed the possibility of extending the DCFTA to the Transnistrian region next year as well. Read more…
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The improvement of the farmworker for the prevention and combating of domestic violence, ensuring of gender quality and improvement of the women’s access to justice are the results of the projects implemented within the Partnership for Good Governance during 2015-2017. The results were presented in a public event on November 7. The Partnership for Good Governance in 2015-2017 is based on four European Union – and Council of Europe – funded projects that lay emphasis on: improvement of electoral processes; combating and prevention of discrimination; consolidation of the respect for human rights in the process of implementing the digital agenda; consolidation of the legal system and support for the Lawyers Union of the Republic of Moldova. Read more…
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A new EU project to ensure the visibility and communication of the measures taken to implement the Association Agreement/Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (AA/DCFTA) was launched in Chisinau on November 7. The project will last for two years and envisions investments of €1.9 million. In the launch, Deputy Prime Minister Octavian Calmac, Minister of Economy and Infrastructure, said not much was told to business entities and small and medium-sized investors about the advantages of the DCFTA and these could not thus fully use the available benefits. Attending the event, EU Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström said the EU became the most important export market of Moldova. Read more…
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“The signature of the protocol decision on the opening of the Gura-Bicului – Bychok bridge will provide for significantly increased opportunities to facilitate the movement of people, transport and goods and business activities on both banks of the Nistru River and in the wider region,” said a statement by the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Moldova. The statement also said that the work of the Austrian OSCE Chairmanship-in-Office and the OSCE Office in Chisinau has been particularly important in achieving this result. Read more…
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The market of the European Union is much more stable for Moldovan goods and offers a guaranteed price. All the instruments of a market economy work there and everyone there has access to justice, credible purchases and can recover the losses. The commercial risks related to these transactions have minimized, Minister of Economy and Infrastructure Octavian Calmic stated in a TV program. In the same program, economic expert Veaceslav Ionita said that since Moldova signed the Association Agreement with the European Union and the EU market was opened, the competitiveness of the Moldovan economy has increased. Read more…
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The fact that Moldova cannot export a large quantity of products on a constant basis is one of the problems faced by the agrifood sector in the exportation to the European Union based on the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement. Alexandru Fala, programs director at the independent think tank “Expert-Grup”, said this is a key problem that the Republic of Moldova cannot solve, also because of the fragmentation of its agricultural sector. Read more…
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Civil society organizations from 13 districts of Moldova were helped to strengthen their capacities to intervene and support local socially disadvantaged families. With the financing obtained within a European project, the NGOs established partnerships with the local public authorities and staged in concert activities to raise awareness of human and children’s rights, creation workshops, out-of-school events, summer camps, clubs for teens and others. Head of the EU Delegation to Moldova Peter Michalko said that by this project they aimed to support the development of the civil society’s capacity to influence the drafting and implementation of public policies so that the NGOs become advocates of the most vulnerable members of society and they succeeded. Read more…
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The first Tourist Information Center in Chisinau, housed by the City Hall, was opened officially on November 9. The Center provides visitors with information about events, accommodation facilities, itineraries and tours, including wine tours. Through the Virtual Reality technology, the visitors will also be able to see particular destinations interactively, before purchasing travel tickets. The Tourist Information Center was set up with financial support from the European Union within the Support to Confidence Building Measures Program implemented by UNDP and from USAID and the Government of Sweden through the Moldova Competiveness Project. Read more…
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The European Parliament’s report that urges to extend cooperation and find new methods of supporting the countries situated at the eastern borders of the EU is a very important signal and suggests objectives that would improve the life of Moldovans, Deputy Speaker of Parliament Iurie Leanca stated in a TV program. According to Iurie Leanca, the report that refers to the development of cooperation with Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine contains a series of proposals, such as joining of the European Union in a particular perspective, which is a qualitatively new pace, joining of the Schengen arrangements about which they didn’t speak so far, annulment of the roaming charges, joining of a common Europeans energy area, creation of infrastructure corridors to much better connect Moldova to the European infrastructure. Read more…
The summary of news from the IPN series “European Integration” is produced with support from the Hanns Seidel Foundation of Germany and can be further disseminated on condition that the source is indicated.
