This was stated by Thomas Byrne, Minister for European Affairs of Ireland—which currently holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union—at a press conference in Luxembourg held following the official opening of Moldova's EU accession negotiations on Clusters 2 and 3. As noted, on October 13, the EU and Moldova took another important step in the process of Moldova's accession to the European Union by opening negotiations on the "Internal Market" and "Competitiveness and Inclusive Growth" clusters. Clusters are the main thematic groups within the EU accession negotiation process, defining the parameters for aligning the legislation of candidate countries with the EU's legal framework in the relevant areas. The "Internal Market" cluster covers EU policies regarding the free movement of goods, services, labor, and capital, as well as general rules in the areas of competition, financial services, corporate law, and consumer protection. The "Competitiveness and Inclusive Growth" cluster covers EU policies on economic competitiveness and growth, including taxation, economic and monetary policy, industry, digital transformation, employment, education, research, and customs. "Today we have taken another step forward on Moldova's path to EU accession. This decision—came less than three months after the start of negotiations on the 'External Relations' cluster—demonstrates the great importance the Irish Presidency attaches to the issue of EU enlargement. "We will make every effort until the end of our term to ensure that the remaining clusters are opened," said Thomas Byrne, Minister for European Affairs of Ireland, which currently holds the EU Council Presidency. According to him, the EU has also established criteria for the future provisional closure of the relevant negotiation chapters. The EU accession process is based on an assessment of concrete achievements. Monitoring of progress in harmonizing national legislation with EU regulations and implementing relevant European standards will continue throughout the negotiation process. Clusters are the main thematic groups within the EU accession negotiation process that define the parameters for aligning the legislation of candidate countries with the EU's legal framework in the relevant areas. Clusters are subdivided into chapters corresponding to the various policy areas under negotiation. The "Internal Market" cluster includes 9 separate negotiation chapters covering: the free movement of goods (1), the free movement of workers (2), the right of establishment and the freedom to provide services (3), the free movement of capital (4), corporate law (6), intellectual property rights (7), competition policy (8), financial services (9), and consumer protection and public health (28). The "Competitiveness and Inclusive Growth" cluster includes 8 separate negotiating chapters covering: digital transformation and media (10), taxation (16), economic and monetary policy (17), social policy and employment (19), enterprise and industrial policy (20), science and research (25), education and culture (26), and the customs union (29). Following the introduction in 2020 of a revised methodology for EU accession negotiations, the negotiation chapters were divided into 6 thematic clusters: Core Values; Internal Market; Competitiveness and Inclusive Growth; the "Green" Agenda and Sustainable Connections; Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Cohesion Policy; and External Relations. Each chapter corresponds to a specific policy area. There are 33 chapters in total. // 15.10.2026 — InfoMarket