Some 21% or 161 of the 756 measures stipulated in the plan of action for implementing the Association Agreement between Moldova and the EU have been implemented during the first year of the coming into force of the accord. Another 520 measures (68%) are being carried out, while 84 (11%) are overdue, says the study “Euromonitor: first accomplishments and difficulties in implementing the Association Agreement between Moldova and the European Union”, which was presented by the Independent Analytical Center “Expert-Grup” and the Association for Participatory Democracy (ADEPT), IPN reports.
According to independent experts, among the main achievements are the adoption of the Law on the Disciplinary Punishment of Judges and of amendments to the Election Code, which will improve the financial reporting by parties during election campaigns, the reduction in the number of complains about use of torture and the rise in the number of criminal cases with indictments sent to court.
The relevant economic actions include the ratification of the EU Program for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (COSME) for 2014- 2020, which will facilitate the SMEs’ access to financing, and the signing of the EMPARD Program that is intended for agricultural producers.
The mentioned failures are due to the lack of firm actions on the part of the authorities for resolving the crisis in the banking sector, the suspension of financing by the external development partners and the delays in implementing the justice sector reform. The Law on the Prosecution Service and the Law on the National Integrity Commission haven’t been yet adopted, while the Office of the People’s Ombudsman hasn’t been reformed.
Many of the actions planned for implementing the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement are overdue. The national legislation wasn’t adjusted to the EU’s Energy Package III, which would facilitate the liberalization and de-monopolization of the gas and electric power markets.
ADEPT executive director Igor Botan said that many actions of the national plan are still being implemented and produced no results. During the monitoring process, it was established that no particular persons were entrusted with the task of implementing the stipulated measures. Not all the actions can be measured and it’s hard to assess their effect. Most of the economic measures are formulated unclearly and do not have financial backing.
Botan noted there should be identified criteria for analyzing the impact of the taken measures.
