Real reform stimulation in Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine can be ensured not by offering a clearer European perspective, but by reviewing conditionality and allocating financial assistance in close correlation with the practical progress in doing reforms, expert in political sciences Dionis Cenusa says in an opinion article for IPN.
According to the politologist, a clearer European perspective than what has been offered until now cannot increase the attachment to reforms inside the mainly reform-phobic political class.
Dionis Cenusa is convinced that the reiteration of the European perspective for Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia by the European Parliament could improve the spoiled image of the three states, which would thus try to shirk responsibility for the failed reforms. Such a decision could also create confusion among the people as these expect that the EU will have a more principled and critical attitude to the governments in the three states.
The politologist notes that the Russian factor should be taken into account, but in an objective way so as to avoid the hyperbolization of real risks.
Dionis Cenusa considers reforms can be encouraged through renewed categorized and individualized conditionality. The political preconditions related to the mechanisms of democratic institutions, such as the rule of law, good governance, human rights, and multi-party system, can also be incorporated into the financial assistance of the EU.
According to him, the inclusion of political preconditions in the conditionality elements for providing macro-financial assistance to Moldova (June 2017), based on the recommendations/appraisal of the Venice Commission concerning the electoral system, can serve as a source of inspiration and can be correspondingly replicated in the case of Ukraine and Georgia.
Also, the stimulation of reforms depends on the monitoring of their implementation. Emphasis should be placed both on results and on the causes of objective non-achievement - institutional inefficiency, politicization of decisions or lack of financial and human resources. The more detailed and illustrative the monitoring is, the more efficient the reform stimulation and finalization processes will be, concluded the expert.
