The amendment adopted by the Moldovan parliamentary majority on March 5, 2026, lowering the voting threshold for appointing members of the Vetting Commissions from 61 to 51 MPs, could directly affect evaluations by the European Commission within the framework of the country’s EU accession negotiations.
According to Iulian Groza, the issue concerns the section related to progress on the rule of law roadmap.
Groza warned that the situation could signal a regression in the next enlargement report of the European Commission if it is not addressed quickly.
“In addition, there is a fairly high risk that this situation could affect the predictability of the legal framework, create uncertainty and undermine the credibility of the vetting process. Instead of seeking consensus and identifying a mechanism to unblock the vote in Parliament while preserving the logic of a decision adopted by a qualified majority of MPs, the law was amended,” Groza said.
He also criticized the legislative procedure used to adopt the amendment, arguing that lawmakers introduced and voted on it during the same sitting in the second reading, even though it concerned a different law on vetting while Parliament was examining a separate draft law on the security of judges and prosecutors that had already passed the first reading.
The analyst said the qualified majority requirement for appointing commission members had a clear logic, especially in the context of transitional reforms such as the external evaluation of justice sector actors.
“The vote with a simple majority of 51 contradicts the spirit of this provision. In case of a deadlock, the solution should have been a gradual unblocking mechanism with adequate guarantees, not an automatic amendment of the law that bypasses transparency and consultation,” Groza added.
The amendment has been challenged at the Constitutional Court of Moldova by the parliamentary opposition. Meanwhile, Maia Sandu has already promulgated the law.
Groza believes the urgency was likely driven by the need to rapidly implement provisions related to the security of judges and prosecutors, but noted that the lowered threshold of 51 votes has now entered into force instead of the previously required qualified majority of 61 votes.
The executive director of the Institute for European Policies and Reforms also said that before a possible ruling by the Constitutional Court, initial reactions from the European Commission are likely to appear, and the Moldovan government will have to explain the changes and justify why the amendment was adopted so quickly.
He suggested that Parliament could still mitigate the consequences by sending the amendment for detailed opinions to the Venice Commission and the European Commission, and by developing a mechanism to unblock the appointment process for members of the Vetting Commission while ensuring guarantees for a qualified consensus.