The malfunctions in Moldova can be removed not just by “Europeanizing” the national legal framework, but also by extracting benefits for the public at the stage of implementing this, political pundit Dionis Cenusa wrote in an analysis article for IPN Agency.
According to the politologist, for changes to be brought about, the “Europeanized” legislation should be finally implemented. This aspect is very sensitive, being blocked by systemic constraints, such as limited resources, vulnerable institutions and volatile political will.
The instruments used to stimulate reforms related to the European agenda, including the transposition of the European legislation, contain a common deficiency. The same National Action Plan for implementing the Association Agreement developed by the Government or the Association Agenda structured together with the EU focuses mainly only on the adoption of laws and derivative actions. For now, there was instituted no instrument for supervising the quality of implementation.
Therefore, most of the results were achieved recently in the banking sector, where the International Monetary Fund de facto follows how new the legislative measures are implemented. The introduction of particular conditions for releasing the €100 million in macro-financial assistance also puts the adoption of laws at the forefront.
The laws harmonized with the European norms will yet bring maximal benefits to the citizens when they are implemented. A complex instrument from the EU is thus needed. Exactly as in the case of the Plan of action used by the EU to liberalize the visa regime for Moldova, the given instrument at the first stage would include the monitoring of the adopted legislation, while at the second stage the quality and sustainability of implementation.
Thus, the EU can develop action plans for the crucial sectors of the Association Agreements, with multiplication effect, such as justice, infrastructure, competition and food security.
In the absence of such Action Plans for the Association Agreement and of two stages of monitoring on the part of the EU, the European integration will be reduced to the “Europeanization” of the legal framework, making the implementation of the Agreement a secondary action, concluded Dionis Cenusa.
