In this phase, technical negotiations with the EU institutions will cover all six clusters of the accession process, which include a total of 33 thematic chapters of European law.
Which new chapters are included in the negotiation process
Information from the European Integration Office notes that technical negotiations on the following three clusters of chapters will begin on March 17:
Cluster 3: Competitiveness and Inclusive Growth, which includes areas such as labor market, social policy, education, industrial policy or digital transformation;
Cluster 4: Green Agenda and Sustainable Connectivity, which covers areas such as environment, transportation, energy and infrastructure;
Cluster 5: Resources, Agriculture and Cohesion, which includes agricultural policy, rural development, fisheries, regional policy and the management of European funds.
These clusters will be negotiated in addition to the other three clusters for which technical negotiations have previously been initiated.
What does “technical negotiations” mean?
The launch of technical negotiations means a process of continuous monitoring of the reforms carried out by the Republic of Moldova in order to transpose and implement the European legislation.
At this stage, the intermediate and final benchmarks that Moldova has to achieve in order to advance in the negotiation process are monitored.
The start of technical negotiations in all clusters moves Moldova’s accession process into a new technical phase, where all major areas of public policy are analyzed in line with European Union standards.
This allows to accelerate internal preparations for accession and maintain the momentum of the negotiations.
In the coming period, national institutions will continue the process of harmonizing legislation and implementing reforms, Moldova as a whole will work towards achieving the objectives set during the technical negotiations, and the progress achieved will allow moving towards the next stages of accession negotiations.
