Moldovan authorities have agreed on the steps to be taken in the context of European integration after Moldova had received the EU candidate-country status.
These steps have been stipulated during a meeting of the National Commission for European Integration, convened on Wednesday by Moldovan President Maia Sandu. She noted that the National Commission for European Integration will coordinate the efforts of the Moldovan authorities in the country's European course. The head of state stressed that European integration is the most important national project of our generation. "We embarked on this path, guided by people's expectations, to offer our citizens the prospect of a better life at home, in our country. This project is an effort of state institutions, civil society, business community and citizens, who must work together to change step by step all aspects of life in Moldova for the better", the President of Moldova said. According to her, the National Commission for European Integration discussed the steps that need to be taken on Moldova's European path, as well as more active involvement of the civil society, business environment and other participants in the coordination of the European integration process. The next steps in the country's European course are to settle the conditions of the candidate-country status, formulated in the June 17 opinion of the European Commission. They cover a number of areas: reform of justice and fight against corruption, functioning of laws, elimination of oligarchic influence on economic, political and media system, improvement of electoral legislation and reform of state administration. "We also want to improve the areas mentioned by the European Commission in order to strengthen state institutions and enhance their ability to function effectively in the interests of citizens. We discussed all of these issues at today's meeting. We focused on measures to de-oligarchize public life in Moldova, progress in the fight against corruption and the recovery of the stolen money from our country, and progress in the reform of justice. We agreed on the steps to be undertaken by the state institutions in each of these fields to meet the conditions formulated by the European Commission point by point. We have identified the institutions and the persons responsible for each action. We have also established a mechanism for coordinating and reporting on progress on these issues. Implementing these steps within the agreed timeframe will allow Moldova to move towards opening accession negotiations. We also discussed strengthening the capacity of the central public administration to implement the expected reforms in each sector. In this area, we have vulnerabilities that need to be addressed through additional motivation of employees, by increasing the capacity of people who will be involved in these processes, both in implementation and monitoring. We need young professionals to dedicate themselves to the state and support Moldova's European integration. An action plan that will contain concrete steps for reforms in all these areas will be finalized and adopted by the end of July. This document will be widely discussed with the civil society and other participants in this process," the head of state emphasized. According to her, our country's success in these efforts depends on the ability of parliament, ministries, the government as a whole, and state authorities to develop and implement timely reforms in targeted areas and monitor the implementation of these reforms. "At the same time, our success depends on the willingness and ability of civil society, the business community, local public administration and all citizens to support these efforts to reform the country. If we want to succeed - and we want to succeed - we must take this great national effort and get to work - immediately, with great dedication. The National Commission for European Integration will meet regularly to monitor the implementation of the agreed actions and determine the progress made. Depending on the needs identified along the way, the composition of the commission may change. Moldova's European integration is our national program, so we must work together to move forward on this path. We have no right to fail. We have a lot of work to do and we cannot waste time. Good luck to all of us!" declared Maia Sandu. // 13.07.2022 – InfoMarket
