“The Association Agreement will lead to Moldova’s loss of sovereignty”, “The Association Agreement will further enflame Russia-Moldova relations”, “Consumer prices will increase as a result of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area”. These are only some of the most spread hypotheses about the Association Agreement with the European Union. Are they true theories or just myths? IPN aimed to find out the answer from a number of independent experts and officials working in the addressed areas.
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“By signing the Association Agreement, Moldova will lose the CIS market."
This is a myth, said former minister of economy Valeriu Lazar, who took part in the negotiation of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement, which is a component part of the Association Agreement with the European Union. He said that there are no provisions in the Association Agreement that would run counter to the agreements signed with other CIS states.
“There are areas where we will have different standards, but this is what we wanted. At the level of agreements, there is no conflict. For particular goods we will toughen up the quality requirements and will have the same standards as in the EU on the Moldovan market. For most of the products, the standards are higher than those we had until now, which were similar to those of our eastern partners,” said Valeriu Lazar. Raising the quality requirements in Moldova means goods of a higher quality supplied to the Moldovan people and to the people from the CIS.
“There is also the second part. There are goods for which the standards in Russia are higher. But there is a general principle which we take into account: if you want to sell goods, you must make sure that they meet the quality requirements on that market. If they are discussed, these problems disappear. We already had two rounds of consultations with colleagues from Russia. There are several areas where things must be clarified, but there is no conflict. On the contrary, we tell them that until they have the possibility, they should come with their capital here, in Moldova so that we produce together for the European market and for ourselves. Everyone will only gain,” added the ex-minister of economy.
According to Valeriu Lazar, leaving politics aside, in the economic sphere there is no divergence. In some areas, Russia implements more European standards than Moldova at present.
On its website, the EU Delegation to Moldova says the DCFTA is compatible with all other free trade agreements that Moldova is part of, since it does not require Moldova to become member of a customs union which would deprive Moldova of its sovereignty in conducting its own trade policy. This applies in particular to the Free Trade Agreement with the CIS countries. Therefore, after signing the Association Agreement with the EU, Moldova will be able to export duty-free both to the EU and the CIS. Furthermore, the Free Trade Agreement with Turkey, which is currently the third most important market for Moldovan exports, will enter into force. Finally, because EU standards are recognized worldwide, other important global markets will automatically open up to Moldovan goods and services.
Alina Marin, IPN
