At the Vilnius Eastern Partnership Summit of November 29, 2013, Moldova will enter a new stage of relations with the European Union. What will it bring and how will it influence the life of the Moldovans from the country and from abroad? What will each of us gain and what should we do for this benefit to become possible? How will the new conditions affect Moldova’s relations with other countries? The IPN Agency aims to look for answers to these and other questions worrying society, together with you, within the series of articles “Association with the EU to everyone’s understanding”.
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Moldova is expected to initial the Association Agreement with the EU in Vilnius this autumn. There are different interpretations. The people consider that there are the Association Agreement, the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement and the Visa Liberalization Agreement. It is colloquial to say so, but legally there is only one accord – the Association Agreement that includes the creation of the free trade area, while the abolition of the visa regime for Moldovans is discussed separately. Separate discussions are also held with 15 EU member states on a Mobility Partnership that will allow the Moldovans to go to the EU to work.
The procedure for signing the agreement is preceded by talks. After the text is negotiated, the negotiators put their initials on it. The initialing means the completion of the formal talks. Procedures are performed afterward to prepare the signing of the document. After the agreement is initialed, its 1,300 pages are translated as the accord is signed with the EU in 23 languages. The next stage after the signing is the ratification of the Association Agreement by the Parliament of Moldova on the one hand and by the European Parliament and the national legislatures on the other hand. Many of the agreements contain provisions that come into force immediately after they are signed. In the agreement with the EU, there is a clause saying that some of the clauses that do not refer to the member states are implemented partially and come into force when signed.
As regards the visa regime, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Iulian Groza said the existing agreement facilitates the obtaining of visas by Moldovans. In parallel, a dialogue on the liberalization of the visa regime is held between Moldova and the EU. Within this dialogue, Moldova is to meet a series of clear conditions. The same conditions were imposed on the Balkan states that recently obtained a liberalized visa regime with the EU.
In order to fulfill the conditions, Moldova had to carry out a plan of action divided into two stages. The first referred to the adoption of legislation in accordance with the EU acquis, while the second to their implementation. Recently, the authorities presented the last report on the second stage to the European Commission. The report will be analyzed by European officials who will publish their own report on the implementation of the conditions of the second stage. Afterward, the European Commission can recommend the member states to initiate the procedure for instituting a visa-free regime for Moldovans holding biometric passports.
Iulian Groza said that if the EU abolishes the visa regime with Moldova, we cannot speak about an agreement as an accord envisions the implementation of conditions by both of the sides, but Moldova unilaterally abolished the visa regime with the EU in 2007. Thus, it is not an agreement.
After the European Commission establishes that all the conditions were met, it launches a procedure for amending the EU regulations concerning the countries that need visa and the countries that do not need visas. Moldova is now on the list of countries that need visas, but will be moved to the other list when it fulfils all the conditions, including regarding the security of documents and biometry. That’s why Moldova now issues only biometric identification papers.
The deputy minister said the same methods were used when granting a liberalized visa regime to Montenegro, Macedonia, Albania, and Serbia. In time, given that these countries weren’t ready to prevent all the possible risks, the EU launched other procedures aimed at ensuring the observance of the visa-free regime rules. Moldova is to obtain a liberalized regime only for short-stay visas. The Moldovans will be able to travel visa-free for a period of 90 days in half a year. Afterward, they will have to return home.
If the EU abolishes the visa regime for Moldovans, this does not mean that it offers them automatically the right to work. Another dialogue is held with the EU on the issue, called the Mobility Partnership. It is discussed with 15 EU member states with the aim of establishing closer cooperation relations in the area of mobility, preventing and combating illegal migration and promoting circular movement so as to offer the people the possibility of working abroad, but to also oblige them to periodically return home in order to have closer ties with the country. This partnership is necessary because some of the EU member states are rather inflexible on the migration policy and pay special attention to this aspect.
Mariana Galben, IPN
