The issue of selling land to foreigners is decided by the Moldovan government, not by the EU, but European integration implies “free movement of capital” - Janusz Wojciechowski
The EU Commissioner for Agriculture said this in an interview for Ziarul de Gardă. He emphasized that after joining the EU, the same rules should apply to Moldovan citizens as to other EU citizens, “because the matter concerns the free movement of capital, free movement of services”. In order to solve this issue, a transition period is established during the European integration. He noted, however, that each country sets its own rules governing the sale of land. Nevertheless, when asked again whether Moldova might be obliged to lift the ban on selling land to foreigners, Janusz Wojciechowski cited the example of Poland, where about 4-5 thousand hectares of land out of 14 million hectares in the country are sold to foreigners per year. He emphasized that a transition period is very important, during which two types of regulation will operate in Moldova: for Moldovan citizens and for foreigners. For example, the sale of agricultural land to foreigners may be possible only with a special authorization from the authorities. This was the case in Poland for 12 years. Another rule is to give preference to farmers when selling land. Agricultural land, access to it should be primarily for people who are farmers, who work on this land. Agricultural land should not be for other businesses but for food production. The European Commissioner emphasized the importance of this decision and noted that other countries also have similar positive experience. // 08.10.2024 - InfoMarket.
