The European Commission published today its annual enlargement package, naming the Republic of Moldova among the countries that have made significant progress toward EU accession.
The document confirms that Moldova has met the necessary conditions to open the first negotiation chapters and emphasizes that the pace of reforms will determine the country’s next steps.
According to the report, Moldova has completed the selection process and met the requirements to open the Fundamentals, External Relations, and Internal Market chapters.
The European Commission expects Moldova to open all other chapters by the end of the year if it maintains an accelerated pace of reforms.
“The Commission assesses that Moldova has fulfilled the necessary conditions to open Chapter One (Fundamentals), Chapter Six (External Relations), and Chapter Two (Internal Market). The Commission expects Moldova to meet the conditions for opening the remaining three clusters and is working to ensure that the Council can continue opening all clusters before the end of the year. The Moldovan government has expressed its goal of provisionally closing the accession negotiations by early 2028.
The Commission remains committed to supporting this goal, which is ambitious but achievable if Moldova accelerates its current reform pace. Maintaining reform momentum is crucial, strengthened by strong parliamentary support for the country’s European path following the September elections,” the report states.
The Commission also notes that Ukraine, Albania, and Montenegro have made notable progress, while Serbia and Georgia are experiencing stagnation or democratic regression.
“Through the €1.9 billion Growth Plan for Moldova, Brussels reaffirms its support for accelerating reforms and for the country’s gradual integration into the European single market.”
The EU Council will now analyze the Commission’s recommendations and decide on the next steps in the accession process for Moldova and the other candidate countries.