The Independent Think-Tank Expert-Grup as the main partner, in partnership with the Institute for European Policies and Reforms (IPRE), the Institutum Virtutes Civilis (IVC) and the "Friedrich Ebert" Foundation organized on Monday, May 15, 2023, the launch event of the project "Civil Society for European Integration", financed by the European Union and co-financed by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation.

At the opening of the event, Janis Mažeiks, the Ambassador of the European Union to the Republic of Moldova, mentioned ”Granting of the EU candidate status to the Republic of Moldova represents a new Chapter in the EU-Moldova relations and a beginning of the transformation of the Moldovan society on the path to the EU membership. On this path supporting an enabling environment for civil society will continue to be one of the key priorities for the EU as we strongly believe in the fundamental role the civil society plays in helping the country to reach our common European values and standards.”

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova, Dorin Recean, who recalled the need to strengthen the partnership between the authorities and civil society, and also referred to the role that civil society has in ensuring transparency and promoting the benefits of our country joining the EU bloc. "Civil society has always assumed a role in facilitating the democratization of society. The fact that we are here, having the status of a candidate country, is also due to the considerable and consistent effort of civil society. Moreover, it has the role of monitoring the Government's actions and providing the necessary expertise in the European integration process, such as adapting the legislation and required regulations, so that the state institutions function as they were designed. We remain open to revitalizing the dialogue between the Government and civil society, because a strong democracy means the involvement of civil society in the EU accession process", said Prime Minister Dorin Recean.

The launch event presented the main objectives of the project, which are to strengthen CSOs' capacities to support and promote the alignment of budget priorities with the Europeanization agenda at the national and local levels, but also to increase the involvement of the platforms of civil society organizations, so that they act cohesively and provide the necessary support in the implementation of the conditionalities related to the EU candidate status of the Republic of Moldova and the Association Agenda.

15 civil society organizations from the 5 development regions of the country will receive grants worth EUR 20,000 each. In the coming months, CSOs involved in the project will be trained and mentored to monitor public budgets at central and local levels and develop independent budget analyses, helping to ensure a transparent, efficient, and aligned budget process to the priorities of the association agenda.

Ecaterina Rusu, "Civil Society for European Integration" Project Manager emphasized "Civil society has a very important role in the implementation of the Europeanization agenda, both from the perspective of monitoring the process of commitments implementation, thus increasing authorities accountability, but also of being directly involved in the decision-making process, representing a valuable source of expertise necessary for the reform process. In this sense, through the activities of this project, it is aimed both to empowering CSOs at an individual level, but also to strengthening collaboration between them, so that they act synergistically and contribute to the achievement of this strategic objective."

In this context, Ana Mihailov, Country Director, Friedrich Ebert Foundation mentioned "The role of civil society in the processes of country Europeanization was recognized and emphasized by the authorities when they set the objectives of the action plan regarding the implementation of the European Commission's and EU recommendations. We saw from the presentation of the alternative report on the realization of the action plan for the implementation of the measures recommended by the EC, that the field of cooperation with civil society remains one with reservations in implementation. Therefore, the authorities should pay more attention to this area, create conditions for the involvement of civil society in decision-making processes at all levels and insist on the immediate realization of its commitments on this dimension"

In the last panel, the participants discussed the European integration process of the Republic of Moldova, offering an independent assessment of the progress made in fulfilling the 9 recommendations of the European Commission, focusing on the main achievements, constraints and future priorities. Also, in this panel, the representatives of the Government, Eugen Caras, Head of the Directorate for European Integration, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration and Adrian Balutel, Secretary of State, State Chancellery, reiterated the commitment of the Republic of Moldova to continue the close cooperation with the EU and advance in the implementation of the agenda of reforms, and the representatives of the European Expertise Center - EuroPuls from Romania, shared the vision related to the European integration process of the Republic of Moldova.

For more details you can watch the video recording of the event:

The project "Civil Society for European Integration" is implemented by the Independent Think-Tank Expert-Grup, as lead partner, in consortium with Institute for European Policies and Reforms (IPRE), AO Institutum Virtutes Civilis (IVC) and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, financed by the European Union and co-financed by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation.

For additional information please contact Agachi Inga, communication manager, Independent Think-Tank "Expert-Grup", tel: 069 44 56 07, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .