Moldova: European Commission recommends accession talks in light of important progress on reforms

The European Commission today recommended that the Council open accession negotiations with the Republic of Moldova, saying the country had made important progress on the nine steps identified by the Commission in its opinion last year.

“In the light of the results achieved since June 2022 under the political criteria, within the framework of the nine steps and beyond, the Commission considers that Moldova sufficiently fulfils the criteria related to the stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities…, provided it continues its reform efforts and addresses the remaining requirements under the nine steps,” the Commission said in its 2023 Communication on Enlargement Policy published today.

“On this basis, the Commission recommends that the Council opens accession negotiations with Moldova.”

In its report on Moldova, the European Commission noted that the country had launched a comprehensive justice reform, including by evaluating prominent judges and prosecutors. It said Moldova had reformed its anti-corruption bodies and increased the number of investigations and convictions in corruption cases, while also adopting and implementing a deoligarchisation action plan, and setting up a confiscation mechanism that helped to fight organised crime. The report added that the country had adopted a public administration strategy and was following the reform at all levels. It had also worked to reform its public finance management and adopted legislation to reform public procurement. The EC also noted that Moldova had enhanced the participation of civil society in the decision-making process and had strengthened the protection of human rights. 

The European Commission recommended that the Council adopt the negotiating framework provided Moldova continued its progress on remaining judicial reforms and the fight against corruption, as well as further steps on deoligarchisation.

“Moldova has to continue to fight against corruption by building a further track record of corruption investigations and convictions,” it added.

The Commission will continuously monitor the progress and compliance in all areas related to the opening of negotiations and report to the Council by March 2024. 

Find out more

Press release

Key findings of the 2023 Report on Moldova

Report

Country factsheet

2023 Communication on Enlargement Policy