Better kindergartens, schools and medical centers and also businesses at the local level to improve the comfort of citizens and bring them back home. According to MP Ina Coșeru, this should be one of the objectives of the eventual European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC) between the Republic of Moldova, Romania and Bulgaria. The subject was discussed in a public debate hosted by IPN.

The European Groupings of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC) are a tool through which partners – regional and local authorities from EU Member States, but also third countries, such as the Republic of Moldova or Ukraine – can implement various cross-border and interregional projects, having direct access to the European Commission’s funds. Currently, the first steps are being taken to establish an EGTC involving the Republic of Moldova, Romania and Bulgaria.

“All those projects that we have with Romania should be discussed within the EGTC so that we can see what other business and economic initiatives at local level we can generate in order to keep the people in the Republic of Moldova,” said the MP, who heads the Parliament’s commission for foreign policy and European integration.

Drawing a broader picture around the subject, Ina Coșeru stressed that the EU accession with the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine are officially launched today. In the process of joining the EU, Moldova counts the most on Romania.

“Romania is the most important state for the Republic of Moldova in the process of joining the EU because, being neighbors, only through Romania will we be able to carry out projects to connect to the European space. Romania will help us with all the experience it has in the joining process, with all the lessons it learned (...) We, unlike Ukraine, will not have to translate 27,000 European directives into Romanian (...) This means that our speed (in accession) will be much higher because we will be able to deliver results much faster,” explained Ina Coșeru.

Even before becoming members, by 2030 as the authorities plan, the process itself will unlock for our country access to more opportunities, including pre-accession funds. But this will not happen tomorrow, says Ina Coșeru. In the meantime, we will still be able to benefit from funding through the Eastern Partnership, at least until 2027. Likewise, there is the Moldova Support Platform created by Romania together with France and Germany, which proved to be a lifeline in many situations, especially in the energy crisis. The future EGTC will also be an important tool.

According to the MP, we will have to capitalize on any opportunity to develop the country economically, given that the war in the neighborhood continues to scare foreign investors. “We will have to maintain the level of trade with the EU because we all know that over 60% of exports go to the EU, and we want to increase the volume and range of products. But this means increasing the quality, expanding economic activities and so on,” said Ina Coșeru.

According to her, the energy sector, from interconnection to electricity and gas networks to thermal insulation of blocks for lower bills, should be one of the priorities of these European projects. “What I would suggest for this EGTC is to have more discussions and ideas on how we can be energy independent,” noted the MP.

The public debate entitled “Romania-Republic of Moldova, creation of the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation” was the ninth installment of the project “Double integration through cooperation and information. Continuity”, which is funded by the Department for Relations with the Republic of Moldova. The content of this debate does not represent the official position of the Department for Relations with the Republic of Moldova.