Moldova Fulfilled 3 out of 9 Recommendations of the European Commission in One Year

Almost a year after the Republic of Moldova received the status of candidate country to the European Union, the Republic of Moldova has managed to fully implement 3 out of 9 conditions of the European Commission. It is reported in the EU’s preliminary report. The final version of the report will be available in autumn. Sources in Brussels say that the interim report on Moldova has a positive assessment, with a high level of recommendations’ implementation. Implemented conditions: - Amendment of the electoral legislation (commitment 2), - Involving civil society in the decision-making process (commitment 8), - Protection of human rights (commitment 9). Government made good but insufficient progress on other commitments. On justice reform, questions remain. This is the first commitment of the European Commission. Despite little progress, the effective functioning of the High Court of Justice and the appointment of the Prosecutor General remain important. There is progress on Commitment 3 on fighting corruption, but the active involvement of the Prosecutor General’s Office and the specialized anticorruption institutions is required. On de-oligarchization (commitment 4), Moldova has reached good progress. In the fight against organized crime (commitment 5), Moldova has made some progress. The reform of public administration (commitment 6) and public finance management (commitment 7) were highly commended. On June 23, 2022, Moldova gained European Union candidate country status. In order to start accession negotiations, Moldova must implement the 9 recommendations of the European Commission. President Maia Sandu has previously expressed the hope that if the results of Chisinau's extended EU engagement are appraised in the autumn, accession negotiations could begin before the end of the year. According to an optimistic prediction, the authorities plan to hold Moldova's accession to the EU until 2030.