On 23 June 2022, the Republic of Moldova obtained the European Union (EU) candidate country status. The EU decision was based on the favourable opinion of the European Commission, after the evaluation of the completed questionnaire, in the context of the accession application submitted by the Republic of Moldova in March 2022. The first report of the European Commission on the progress made by the Republic of Moldova in the EU enlargement policy will be published in autumn 2023.The answers to the EU questionnaire were also supplemented with the input of Moldovan experts from the diaspora and civil society. IPRE, Expert-Group, and CRJM, in collaboration with the Soros Moldova Foundation, within the #ThinkTanks4EUMembership initiative, contributed to the preparation of the Republic of Moldova's answers to the EU Questionnaire.

 

In April 2022, the National Commission for European Integration (NCEI) was established. Chaired by the President of the Republic of Moldova, the Commission is an inclusive platform that brings together members of the Government, parliamentarians, representatives of civil society and local authorities, which ensures the strategic coordination of the European integration process. On 4 August 2022, NCEI approved the Action Plan for the implementation of the measures proposed by the European Commission in its Opinion on the Republic of Moldova's EU membership application (hereinafter the Action Plan).In this context, IPRE, Expert-Grup and CRJM, as part of the #ThinkTanks4EUMembership initiative, in cooperation with the Friedrich Ebert Foundation have started a process of monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of the 9 recommendations of the European Commission.The results of the monitoring exercise are reflected in the #MoldovaEUCandidateCheck Monitoring Table available online here: https://euromonitor.md/en. The main findings regarding the progress, constraints, and priorities recommended for each of the 9 commitments undertaken by the Republic of Moldova are reflected in this Report, which presents the developments from 1 July 2022 to 31 March 2023. In July 2023, the assessments reflected in Report #1 and the #MoldovaEUCandidateCheck Monitoring Table will be reviewed and updated to reflect the final evaluations, given that the deadline for fulfilling the 9 commitments is June 2023, when the European Commission will initiate the elaboration of the first report within the EU Enlargement Package, which will be published in the autumn of this year.

Executive summary

As a result of the evaluation, the overall average for the degree of implementation of the 9 commitments is 3.8 points out of a maximum of 5. Out of the 60 actions corresponding to 9 measures provided by the authorities in the Action Plan:  14 actions (23,33%) have been implemented without deficiencies, 21 actions (35%) have been implemented with certain shortcomings, 23 actions (38.33%) are in the process of implementation, and 2 actions (3,33%) have not been initiated yet.

In the field of justice reform (1st commitment), we note that most of the actions planned by the authorities have been implemented with certain shortcomings or are being currently carried out (4p). Thus, among the achievements are the adoption of Law no. 120/2021 for amending the Constitution and related legislation, with the aim of improving regulations regarding the judicial system. Other laws have been adopted that have consolidated the activity of the Judicial Inspection, amended legislation on the National Institute of Justice (INJ) and the prosecution, and introduced an extraordinary evaluation of candidates for the Superior Council of Magistracy (CSM) and the Superior Council of Prosecutors (CSP). The evaluation of judge and non-judge candidates for the CSM was completed, and the evaluation procedures for candidates for the CSP were initiated. On March 30, 2023, Parliament elected three non-judge members to the CSM, who were evaluated by the pre-vetting Commission. The main constraints relate to exceeding the deadline for evaluating candidates for the CSM and CSP, set for December 2022, and extended until June 2023. Although on March 17, 2023, the General Assembly of Judges was to elect the new judge members who had passed the extraordinary evaluation in the CSM, the judges interrupted the session and postponed the vote for April 28, 2023. Consequently, until March 31, 2023, no appointment of judges in the CSM and prosecutors in the CSP had taken place. The evaluation of candidates for the colleges of judges and prosecutors was not initiated. The legislation regarding the activity of the prosecution was not adjusted in accordance with the recommendations of the Venice Commission set out in point 41 of Opinion no. 1086 of June 20, 2022. A clear mechanism for verifying the wealth and interest declarations submitted by candidates enrolled at the INJ and an internal mechanism for verifying the integrity of judges and prosecutors at all stages of their careers were not regulated. 

Regarding the implementation of the recommendations of the OSCE/ODIHR, as well as the Venice Commission (Commitment 2), the Action Plan included the reference to the adoption of the new Code, a measure that was implemented with certain shortcomings (4p). Thus, on December 8, 2022, the Parliament adopted the new Electoral Code of the Republic of Moldova, implementing the majority of OSCE/ODIHR recommendations, evaluation mission reports, and Constitutional Court addresses. Institutional changes focus on the composition and method of appointment of members of the Central Electoral Commission. The new Electoral Code allows for elections to be held in two days in certain electoral districts or polling stations for objective reasons, such as pandemics, exceptional situations, or high voter turnout. The list of subjects that can participate in elections has been expanded, including initiative groups and electoral blocs. The consultative process related to the adoption of the Electoral Code involved all interested parties, such as civil society, political parties, and the public administration. However, it should be noted that the decision of the authorities to include a single activity in the Action Plan seems to be a rather narrow interpretation. In the authors' opinion, Commitment 2 is expected to additionally reflect the evaluation of the implementation of the Venice Commission's recommendations with reference to Commitment 1, namely the completion of essential stages of comprehensive justice system reform in accordance with Venice Commission Opinion No. 1058, related to the draft law on the prosecution service and Venice Commission Opinion No. 102 on the judiciary system. Additionally, the authorities should objectively determine whether other recently announced draft laws fall under the category of "essential stages of comprehensive justice system reform," such as the reform of the Supreme Court of Justice and the evaluation of Supreme Court judges, the extraordinary evaluation of judges and prosecutors (full-vetting), the conventional draft law called the de-oligarchization package (which is reflected in Commitment 4), or the package of laws on the Intelligence and Security Service. 

In the field of combating corruption (commitment 3), most actions are implemented with certain shortcomings, or have been initiated and are in the process of implementation (3,66). The main progress was the adoption in July 2022 of legislative changes and the implementation of a new mechanism for criminal prosecution, trial, and conviction in absentia of individuals who evade participation in criminal proceedings. The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office managed to investigate more corruption cases than in 2021 and has also increased the number of cases sent to court. The proportion of sentences and cases sent to court for corruption cases has increased slightly from 2021 to 2022. Moreover, the values of fines and special confiscations have increased significantly. One of the main constraints is the existence of deviations from the initial terms for carrying out the actions provided for in the Action Plan. The main priorities that the authorities need to focus on in the immediate future are the adoption in the final reading of the draft amendment to the Code of Criminal Procedure for delimiting the competencies between the National Anticorruption Centre (NAC) and the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (APo), the project of amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code and Law no. 59/2012 for improving and increasing the efficiency of special investigation measures, the project of amending the Law on whistle-blowers that is to transpose EU Directive 2019/1937, as well as the publication of a strategic analysis of the convictions adopted in 2022 in corruption cases, related acts, and corruptible deeds.

Regarding the "de-oligarchization" (commitment 4), most actions are in the process of implementation (3,3p). The Ministry of Justice has drafted a bill to eliminate excessive influence of private interests on economic, political, and public life. The bill has been consulted with the public, and the Venice Commission has issued a preliminary opinion that will be taken into consideration by the authorities in finalizing the draft law.  The draft contains several problematic provisions, contrary to the international commitments of the Republic of Moldova in the field of human rights. The draft Action Plan on de-oligarchization measures has been developed and the consultation process for the draft plan has been initiated. The Central Electoral Commission has established the Supervision and Control Division for the Financing of Political Parties and Electoral Campaigns to monitor, analyse, verify, and control the financing of political parties and electoral campaigns. The Audio-visual Media Services Code has been amended to allow the regulation of activity reports of media providers by the Audio-visual Coordinating Council. The government has adopted the State Ownership Policy in the form of the Strategy for managing state property in enterprises and companies with state capital for the years 2022-2030, which requires immediate actions to implement good corporate governance practices. However, the Law on Public-Private Partnership is to be adjusted to the principles and objectives of the state property strategy and the OECD recommendations on public governance principles for PPP.

In the field of combating organized crime (commitment 5), most actions have been implemented and some are in the process of implementation (3,88p). Thus, the Government has adopted and initiated the implementation of the Internal Affairs Development Strategy for the years 2022-2030. The Criminal Assets Recovery Program for the period 2023-2027 has been adopted. In addition, employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the General Inspectorate of Police have participated in several experience-sharing activities with Interpol, Europol, Eurojust, etc. Although with deviations from the initial deadline set in the Action Plan, on March 30, 2023, Parliament adopted the Cybersecurity Law, which transposes EU Directive 2022/2555 (NIS 2). Priorities for 2023 include the entry into force of the Cybersecurity Law and the Law on the Prevention and Combating of Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing, and the adoption of the related regulatory framework and implementation of Moneyval recommendations. 

In the field of public administration reform (commitment 6), most actions have been fulfilled and an action related to the digitalization of public services is in the process of implementation (4P). Twelve electronic services have been launched in the field of cadastre and eleven others have been integrated with the MDelivery service. A support mechanism for the staff of public authorities to achieve priority tasks has been established, and decisions to increase the headcount limit of policy-making units within the Central Public Administration have been promoted. An ex-post evaluation report of the Public Administration Reform Strategy 2016-2020 has been developed and a new Public Administration Reform Strategy was adopted, which addresses the issue of public officials' salaries and professionalization, delimitation of roles within the public administration, and consolidation of fiscal autonomy of local public administration, has been approved. In the context of implementing the revised Roadmap on Local and Regional Democracy, progress has been made in consolidating the tax base of level I local public administration through changes to budget and fiscal policies for 2023, but progress in delimiting public property is modest. The main priority is to consolidate public administration authorities through salary reform and to avoid the practice of incentivizing public officials by including them in the boards of state-owned companies.

Regarding the reform of public finance management (commitment 7), most of the actions have been implemented (4.66 points). A regulation on low-value public procurement has been developed and approved, a formal procedure for identifying eligible public investment projects to be included in the Medium-Term Budgetary Framework/State Budget Law project has been established, and the scope of the public investment management framework has been expanded. A public finance management development strategy for the period 2023-2030 has been developed, aimed at improving the quality of macroeconomic and fiscal forecasts, establishing an adequate accounting and reporting system in the budgetary sector, the continuous development of the public finance management information system, and ensuring the use of public funds in accordance with good governance principles.

In the field of civil society cooperation (commitment 8), most of the actions are in the process of implementation (2.8 points).  However, the Framework Regulation on non-repayable financing of non-commercial organizations' projects and on improving the process of developing public policy documents has been adopted. The Ministry of Justice has drafted a law on access to public interest information, but the current version of the draft, does not address the issues raised by journalists. On the other hand, transparency and predictability in the decision-making process are still affected in Parliament, where the transparency of projects under review has been affected on average by 69%. In addition, the permanent platforms for consultation with civil society at the level of Parliament and Government have not yet been launched. The State Chancellery needs to expedite the consultation and approval of the new Concept on the development of civil society, and authorities need to improve the ex-post evaluation mechanism of legislation to understand if the intended objectives have been achieved.

In the field of protection of human rights (commitment 9), most of the actions have been implemented (4). Amendments have been adopted to the regulatory framework to ensure non-discrimination and equality, including the expansion of discrimination criteria and amendments to the Contravention Code. In addition, adjustments have been made to the Ombudsman Law, and criminal and procedural legislation has been aligned with the provisions of the Istanbul and Lanzarote Conventions. However, there have been delays in approving these laws due to objections from the President of the Republic and deviations from legislative technique. In addition, there have been challenges in implementing the Program to support the Roma population for the years 2022-2025. It is recommended to improve inter-institutional dialogue and cooperation between the Ministry of Education and Research and the Ethnic Relations Agency, implement the Program to support the Roma population, and revise legislation for clarification and separation of the responsibilities for detecting cases of incitement to discrimination.

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This publication is developed within the "Moldova-EU Candidate Check: 9 steps towards the opening of accession negotiations with the European Union" Project implemented by the Institute for European Policies and Reforms, Expert-Grup, and the Centre for Legal Resources of Moldova (CRJM), in cooperation with the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES). The publication represents an independent evaluation by the authors on the degree of implementation of the Action Plan for the implementation of the 9 key political and economic criteria identified by the European Commission in its June 2022 opinion, approved by the National Commission for European Integration (NCEI), which also includes representatives of IPRE and Expert-Grup, civil society organizations that are members of the National Platform of the Civil Society Forum of the Eastern Partnership. The opinions presented in the report belong solely to the authors and do not reflect the position of the National Platform of the Civil Society Forum of the Eastern Partnership, NCEI, or the Friedrich Ebert Foundation.