Natalia Suceveanu
According to Natalia Sucevianu, Doctor of Law, Associate Professor and Head of the Centre for Harmonization of Legislation, the logic of the letter suggests that Ukraine, due to its status as a country at war, would have received the maximum package: a commissioner without portfolio, MEPs without voting rights, an assistant judge, as well as access to Article 42 (paragraph 7) of the Treaty on European Union (mutual assistance) through political commitments.
“For Moldova and the Western Balkan countries, the letter proposes a phased entry: privileged access to the internal market, observer status in the EU institutions, joint sessions of the European Commission and the European Parliament with representatives of the candidate countries, as well as structured integration according to the principle of building blocs – Logos Press note – with the possibility of further deepening to the same institutional architecture as substantial progress is achieved.” This is an open analogy, not a separate category. On paper, the proposal sounds attractive. However, on a careful legal reading, it practically coincides with the framework that Moldova already has,” the expert says.
Moldova has been offered what it already has?
The novelty is that Moldova could be granted observer status in EU institutions and the right to participate in joint sessions, but, according to the author, this would bring only symbolic visibility, without creating a new legal category. As for privileged access to the internal market, the expert argues that the proposal adds very little, given that Moldova is already integrated into SEPA, participates in the Single Market program and is actively pursuing sectoral harmonization of legislation.
The author concludes: “At this stage, the steps proposed in the German letter are below the technical level we have already reached, and the promise of institutional deepening in the future remains politically conditioned and lacks a clear timetable”.
We shall remind you that on 11 May 2026, Chancellor Friedrich Merz sent a letter to the presidents of the European Council, the Council of the European Union and the European Commission, in which he proposed an “associate member” status for Ukraine and, by analogy, steps for gradual institutional integration for Moldova and the Western Balkan countries.
