The opening of accession negotiations with the European Union depends on the European Commission’s report on the situation in the Republic of Moldova and on the opinion of the EU leaders, said the Head of the EU Delegation to Moldova Janis Mazeiks. According to the diplomat, Moldova has made progress in implementing the nine recommendations formulated by the European Commission following the obtaining of the EU candidate status. The suggestion for the Moldovan authorities is to focus on quality, not on speed in the reform process, IPN reports.
The EU Ambassador to Moldova noted that it is hard to anticipate if the European Union will open the accession negotiations this year or not. The first test will be taken in October, when the European Commission will produce a report on the progress made by Moldova in doing reforms. A final decision will be taken by the European Council in December 2023.
“We will need to see the European Commission’s assessment of the way in which the Republic of Moldova advanced in the implementation of the nine recommendations of the Commission. The assessment will be carried out in October. It will be the first assessment for the Republic of Moldova, but not the first assessment for other candidate states. This report will serve as basis for discussions between the leaders of the member states. The EU is a union of 27 sovereign states and it is therefore very important to see how the opinion in each member state is formed. Another very important argument in favor of holding the EPC Summit in the Republic of Moldova was for the leaders to see the Republic of Moldova’s determination and how the country looks like so that in December, when they take a decision, they do not say that it is a country they saw only on paper, but is a country that they saw with their own eyes. And it is surely very important to continue at the same solid pace we see now in the implementation of the nine recommendations,” Janis Mazeiks stated in the program “At 360 Degrees” on Radio Moldova station.
The Head of the EU Delegation said that the authorities’ effort to make progress in fulfilling the nine recommendations put forward by the EC in June 2022 is seen. In sensitive areas, the Moldovan authorities need to act without hurry, in accordance with the Venice Commission’s recommendations.
“What we see at the moment is that the Republic of Moldova advanced in all the areas as these all are covered by the Government’s action plan. Such aspects as the cleaning of the judicial system and the fight against corruption are areas in which we suggested not hurrying up as it is important not only to do things, but to also do them properly. For example, in the pre-vetting process, we saw frustrations caused by the fact that this process lasted longer than the authorities wanted, but we insisted not to hasten this independent process as it should take place as it was planned. The bills concerning the independence of justice, the security sector are very sensitive. That’s why the involvement of the international partners is necessary,” noted Janis Mazeiks.
In April, the European Parliament adopted a resolution by which it requested the European Commission and the European Council to open accession negotiations with the Republic of Moldova by the end of this year following the fulfillment of the nine conditions formulated by the European Commission. The resolution was passed by the votes of 555 MEPs.
