The Republic of Moldova set the objectives of completing the process of screening the legislation, opening the Bureau for European Integration and focusing on the first negotiation chapter, which refers to the justice sector reform, by the end of 2024, said secretary of state of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Cristina Gerasimov. According to her, an intergovernmental conference is to be held next spring to officially agree the framework for the accession negotiations, IPN reports.
The official noted that 2024 will be devoted to a complex assessment of the national legislation and its degree of compliance with the European standards. More people will be hired in government agencies and ministries to speed up this process.
“Evaluating or screening the legislation is the first step we must now take. Here we have made significant progress on nine chapters out of 35. The European integration is our primary objective as a country. It is a national effort undertaken not only by the Government, but also by civil society and each citizen apart. The government needed to fill the ranks at institutions. We must realize that we have a unique opportunity to move much faster in this accession process than other countries. Therefore, it is only in our interests to have as many people involved as possible not only within government institutions, but also within civil society. It’s good to have more voices so that they help us accelerate on the path of European integration. Hiring more people is in the Republic of Moldova’s interests,” Cristina Gerasimov stated in the talk show “Paralela 47” on Radio Moldova station.
According to the secretary of state, the first chapter of the 35 accession chapters, on which Moldova will focus, is the one that refers to the justice sector reform. In the absence of progress in the justice sector, the country cannot advance on the other chapters.
“We hope that the screening process will be completed next year. By the end of spring, we hope to have an intergovernmental conference in which to set this framework for negotiations. In parallel, we are already in the process of constituting a team of negotiators and appointing a chief negotiator. We are in the process of setting up the Office for European Integration. We hope to have all these processes completed over the next few months. And then we will be very focused on the first chapters. We will start with Chapter 23, on judiciary and fundamental rights. This will be the first chapter we will open. To open the next chapters, we will have to demonstrate real results in justice,” said Cristina Gerasimov.
Recently, the Government decided to create a Bureau for European Integration within the State Chancellery. The Bureau will be headed by the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, and will manage the internal accession process, including coordination of approximation of the national legislation with the EU acquis.
