Progress report: Moldova met more conditions put forward by the European Commission than Ukraine and Georgia

Moldova has fully met three of the European Commission's nine recommendations and has made "good progress" in two other areas, says a report to be presented to European ambassadors on 21 June and foreign ministers from member countries next week in Stockholm.

The assessment provides an update on how Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia have fulfilled the recommendations received a year ago when the first two were granted candidate status, and shows that Moldova has done its "homework" best of the trio of associated countries.
What Moldova has done and still needs to do

According to a summary of the report, seen by Free Europe, Moldova has fulfilled all the measures recommended by the European Commission in terms of involving civil society in the decision-making process and protecting human rights. The Moldovan authorities have also managed to fully remedy the legislative shortcomings identified by the Venice Commission.

In the areas of justice reform and public finance management, Moldova has made "good progress", which means that more than half of the measures requested by Brussels have been met.

"Essentially, this is an interim report, showing the progress that has been made and saying what more needs to be done," explains Free Europe's European Affairs Editor Rikard Jozwiak.

With the help of this report, which will be presented orally, member states want to understand what stage the three countries are at in fulfilling the EU's requirements. But what will really matter is the final report in October.

Efforts needed to fight corruption and de-legalisation

In five other areas under the EU's scrutiny, the government in Chisinau has only managed to make "some progress", i.e. it has accomplished some tasks, but the most important actions are still awaited.

Thus, Moldova has made some progress in the fight against corruption, but effective action by the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office and the National Anti-Corruption Centre and improvement of the quality of investigations are still needed.

In particular, the recommendations of the Venice Commission need to be implemented and competition policy strengthened.

Some progress has been made in the fight against organised crime, including asset recovery, the fight against financial crime, money laundering, but further legislation is needed.

The European Commission also recommends Moldova to continue public administration reform, where it has so far managed to make only some progress.

In conclusion, the Commission stresses that Moldova "should focus on confirmed efforts to fight corruption, the quality of investigations and the effectiveness of prosecutions in the case of deoligarchisation and the recommendations of the Venice Commission".

Moldova - "best in class"

Of the nine conditionalities, Moldova has met three, has "good progress" in two others and "some progress" in the other four. Ukraine has fully met two of the seven conditions put forward by the European Commission and has made "some progress" in the others.

Georgia has completed only three of the 12 reforms required by the EU, has "some progress" in seven areas and "limited progress" in deoligarchisation, but has done nothing to ensure media pluralism.

"Having seen this overview, we can say that Moldova is now the best in class and Georgia is definitely the worst. Overall, if R. Moldova is not the best, then surely it is at least on par with Ukraine. It is clear that the authorities in Chisinau have done their homework, studied hard and are on the right track," comments Rikard Jozwiak.
In tandem with Ukraine on the road to accession

The journalist believes Moldova will go hand in hand with Ukraine in the EU accession process, even if each country is assessed individually on its progress.

"For me, it is very clear that Moldova and Ukraine are going in tandem on the European path, as a kind of couple, much like Sweden and Finland, who wanted to go together in NATO, although Finland joined the alliance before Sweden. Moldova will go in tandem with Ukraine in the EU because they are neighbouring countries and have similar vulnerabilities. Maybe they will be separated later in EU assessments, but right now they are like twins," says Free Europe's editor for European affairs.

Chisinau and Kiev hope that at the end of this year, after the presentation of the final report, EU states will open accession negotiations for Moldova and Ukraine. The two countries became candidates in record time, in June 2022, under the influence of Russia's war against Ukraine. Georgia will be granted this status only after meeting all the conditions put forward by the European Commission.