According to a draft resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers, the restructuring of the relevant ministry is necessary due to the growing volume of tasks involved in harmonizing national legislation with EU law. These tasks are also an important component of the National Program for EU Accession, the National Development Plan, and the Reform Program linked to the Growth Plan.
One of the biggest challenges is the process of adapting to European legislation. The Ministry of the Environment must analyze and harmonize more than 1,200 European Union legal acts, of which about 300 are considered priorities by August 2027. At the same time, Chapter 27 “Environment” of the accession negotiations and the National Accession Program for 2025–2029 include over 200 European acts that must be transposed into national law.
Authorities emphasize that after joining the EU, the Republic of Moldova will have to comply with strict requirements for providing environmental statistics to European institutions, including in the areas of waste management, water consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, and natural resource use. This will require new methodologies, digital tools, and qualified specialists.
In the context of European integration, the environmental sector represents one of the most complex areas of public administration. This is because it involves managing such complex, unpredictable, and regulated areas as air and water protection, biodiversity, climate change, and biosafety. It also covers capital-intensive areas of economic activity such as industrial and municipal waste management, conservation and substitution of natural resources, etc.
The main provisions of the draft include:
- Increasing the Ministry of the Environment’s staff to 118 people and creating new departments to strengthen institutional capacity and ensure the timely fulfillment of tasks related to the implementation of EU legislation.
- Consolidating and determining the size of the units responsible for policy development and promotion, as well as for the effective implementation of the EU legislation transposition process.
- Bringing the Regulations on the Organization and Functioning of the Ministry and its Structure into compliance with the provisions of Government Decree No. 2025. Decree 284/2025 on the Organization and Functioning of Specialized Central Government Bodies.
