Marilena Raouna
The second meeting of the Conference on the Republic of Moldova’s Accession to the European Union took place in Luxembourg on Monday. During the meeting, the parties opened negotiations on the “Fundamentals” cluster, which covers issues of the rule of law, fundamental rights, the functioning of democratic institutions, public administration reform, and economic criteria.
This cluster includes the chapters “Judicial System and Fundamental Rights,” “Justice, Freedom, and Security,” “Public Procurement,” “Statistics,” and “Financial Control.”
As noted in the EU statement, interim benchmarks have been established for the entire cluster, as well as for the chapters related to the rule of law. Meeting these benchmarks will be a prerequisite for moving to the final stage of negotiations and initiating the procedure for the provisional closure of the relevant chapters.
Separate criteria for provisional closure have also been established for public procurement, statistics, and financial control.
The EU Council emphasized that negotiations on the “Fundamentals” cluster will be the first to open and the last to close, and progress in this area will determine the overall pace of the negotiation process.
“We are encouraged by the significant progress and look forward to continuing to support Moldova on its European path, bringing it ever closer to the goal of EU membership and the opportunities this will create for its citizens. Enlargement has been one of the key priorities of the Cypriot Presidency, and today, on this important day for enlargement policy, we have accomplished our task,” stated Marilena Raouna, Deputy Minister for European Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus.
As a reminder, Cyprus currently holds the EU presidency.
