During a press conference, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, Nicu Popescu, presented the main progress made by our country in the context of the European Commission’s recommendation to start accession negotiations with the EU. According to Popescu, the Republic of Moldova has fulfilled 94% of the measures envisaged to fully implement the 9 recommendations.
“In a relatively short time, from June to October, we managed to practically complete those measures that we set out in preparing our country for accession negotiations. Last week, the European Union noted that the Republic of Moldova has fully met 6 out of 9 recommendations, and the remaining 3 recommendations are almost fulfilled. Out of the 9 recommendations, the Republic of Moldova has fulfilled 94% of the measures envisaged for full implementation. There are still some measures that we need to implement,” said Minister Popescu.
At the same time, the Minister of Foreign Affairs presented the three key measures mentioned by the European Commission, in which our country must make progress. The first measure concerns ensuring a transparent and meritocratic process in appointing members who have passed the evaluation at the Supreme Court of Justice, in judicial self-governing bodies, and in the prosecution, including in the appointment process of the Prosecutor General.
“The second measure is about allocating the necessary resources to the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Moldova, and the third measure involves additional measures regarding de-oligarchization, including through relevant regulations regarding cash payments and financial flows,” added him.
According to Nicu Popescu, the Republic of Moldova has made substantial progress in the free movement of capital, public procurement, corporate law, financial services, the energy sector, tax policy, social and employment policies, customs policy, and foreign and security policy.
FOR THE MOST IMPORTANT NEWS, FOLLOW US ON TWITTER!
Last week, the European Commission recommended starting accession negotiations for the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine. According to the head of the European Commission, our country has fulfilled 6 out of the 9 conditions and has remaining issues regarding combating corruption and improving financial regulations. The Commission is expected to present a new report in March on progress related to these measures. The head of the European Commission could not say whether Moldova will become a EU member by 2030, stating that the expansion will be based on merit, and everything depends on the speed at which reforms are implemented, our country has demonstrated so far that it can.
The Republic of Moldova and Ukraine were granted candidate country status for EU accession last summer, with the next stage on the path to the EU being the start of accession negotiations and meeting key conditions set by the EU. Accession negotiations for a country to join the EU usually take years. Croatia, which was the last to join the EU, took 10 years.