IPRE: Moldova’s EU Accession Readiness Reaches 57%

IPRE: Moldova has moved closer to the EU

Moldova’s average level of preparedness for EU accession across the 33 negotiation chapters has reached 57 per cent, compared with 49 per cent in 2025 and 38 per cent in 2023.

Iulian Groza

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This is evidenced by updated data from the EU Accession Tracker – a platform that monitors the Republic of Moldova’s preparations for accession to the European Union based on the European Commission’s assessments. It was developed and is maintained by the Institute for European Policy and Reforms (IPRE).

The update includes the 2026 enlargement package published by the Commission on 4 November 2026: a report on the Republic of Moldova, 116 recommendations for 2027 and an indicative roadmap for accession negotiations in 2027.

According to EU Tracker, 17 chapters are currently at an average or higher level of preparedness, compared with 12 in 2025. Preparations for the agreement are well advanced in areas such as energy, the customs union, foreign policy, and security and defence policy. Further progress is needed on the chapters relating to financial and budgetary provisions, as well as agriculture, the environment, taxation and statistics.

Timeline of EU accession

2026 marked the transition from preparatory phase to negotiations. Four of the six clusters have already been opened: Foundations (15 June 2026), External Relations (14 July 2026), Internal Market, and Competitiveness and Inclusive Growth (13 October 2026).

The European Commission considers that Moldova has fulfilled the conditions and calls on the Accession Conference to open clusters 4 and 5 by the end of the year. The roadmap up to 2027 sets out the following steps: meeting the interim benchmarks on the rule of law and a priority timetable for the provisional closure of 25 chapters, 9 in the first half of the year and 16 in the second. The Commission describes the government’s target of provisionally concluding negotiations in early 2028 as ‘ambitious but achievable’, provided the current pace of reforms is maintained.

The recommendations page sets out the Commission’s 116 recommendations for 2027 across 40 areas, as well as an assessment of how the previous year’s recommendations were implemented: fully in 8 areas and partially in 32. In the 2025 report, the recommendations were only partially implemented across all 40 areas. The rule of law remains the decisive criterion: the Commission notes very substantial progress towards achieving the interim targets, but calls for a robust track record of investigations, prosecutions and final court rulings in corruption cases, including high-level ones.

“The 2026 extension package confirms that Moldova has moved from promises to negotiations. In 2027, the criterion changes: interim targets on the rule of law and the first provisionally closed chapters. The plan for 2028 is achievable only if reforms are evident in the courts, in the administration and in draft legislation, and not merely in reports,” said Julian Groza, Executive Director of IPRE.

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