Munteanu on the EU Accession Process: Moldova’s Teams Are Not Ready

Talks with the EU are much more complicated than it first appears. It is about persuasion via administrative facts, and that means much more than simply a mechanical translation of European rules or norms. Igor Munteanu, chairman of the CUB party, said this on the air of a programme on TVRMoldova. “Talks with the EU are much more complicated than they seem at first sight, and it’s not just about having lawyers who wake up every day and say that Moldova deserves it because we are Europeans. It is about persuasion via administrative facts, and this means much more than a simple mechanical translation of certain European rules or regulations. There must be a negotiation plan from the European Commission, and negotiating teams from both sides must be prepared. The teams from Moldova are not ready, they are far from being ready. There are 34 chapters, and each chapter needs its own team,” Igor Munteanu said. PAS MP Doina Gherman said that the government has the needed potential to negotiate, moreover, the salaries of those involved in this process have been increased by 75 per cent. “We are ready, we have teams ready to start the negotiation process. Work has been done on 34 chapters. That said, previous governments simply did nothing all these years. Because of that, we have a lot of work to do now. But there is political will, there are good intentions, opportunities and efforts are being made every day. A national consensus is needed,” said Doina Gherman, chairwoman of the Commission for Foreign Policy and European Integration.