“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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“The EU will be the only true beneficiary of the Agreement as it does not need costly reforms to access the Moldovan market”
“Certainly this assertion is a myth as it is Moldova that will particularly benefit from the Association Agreement,” said vice director of the Institute for Political Analysis and Consultancy “Politicon” Ion Tabarta. “By launching the Eastern Partnership project, the European Union aimed to ensure stability and security at its borders. In the EU-Moldova relationship, Moldova is surely more interested in this accord.”
Ion Tabarta noted that the Association Agreement is a chance and a possibility of economically, politically and socially modernizing Moldova. In the long run, during 10 years, Moldova will significantly change and we will witness the country’s Europeanization, if all the provisions of the Association Agreement are implemented.
“It is Moldova that needs this accord first of all. An economic argument is that European goods of a high quality will enter the Moldovan market and the Moldovan consumers will thus benefit from this,” stated the vice director of “Politicon”.
On its website, the Delegation of the European Union to Moldova says the EU is entering into the Association Agreement with Moldova because it believes in Moldova strongly benefitting from the EU model of lasting peace, political governance and stability, and economic prosperity. Moldova is an important partner for the EU, despite being small in economic terms (the EU represents about one fourth of the world’s trade).
An independent study suggests that the overall effects of the Agreement for the EU – given Moldova’s size and modest participation in the EU’s total trade with the world (0.1%) - will be negligible. In contrast, Moldova stands to gain almost €142 million of annual income, or 5.4% of its GDP, if the reforms are completed. So, Moldova’s benefits from the Agreement also depend on the completion of reforms.
Alina Marin, IPN
