11th meeting of the EU-Moldova Civil Society Platform: the key role of Civil Society in Moldova’s European integration

Civil society plays a key role in Moldova’s European integration process. The more Moldovan civil society is present and vocal at the European level, the better the EU institutions can support the country.

In this context, ALDA took the opportunity to represent the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum in the 11th meeting of the EU-Moldova Civil Society Platform, which took place on 30 March 2023, in Brussels (Belgium). During the meeting it was presented the perspective of the civil society of the EU and the Eastern Partnership countries on the process of accession of the Republic of Moldova to the European Union.

During the event, issues related to the assessment of Moldova’s progress in implementing the European Commission’s recommendations on EU accession as well as the state of implementation of the EU-Moldova Association Agreement were discussed.

Civil Society plays a key role in Moldova’s accession to the EU and in the country’s European integration

The event represented a good opportunity to underline the importance of 6 strategic directions:

• Public Administration: encourage development partners to provide all necessary support for the successful implementation of public administration reform and call for closer cooperation with civil society at the national and European level, ensuring that the welfare of citizens is at the heart of reform;
• Economy: private sector support programmes to facilitate the implementation of EU standards at enterprise level and to encourage market diversification and investment in higher value-added products;
• Energy: supporting Moldova to urgently establish a programme to finance energy efficiency investments in the residential and private sector;
• Social: Support Moldova in promoting reforms in the labour sector and social assistance system and in advancing the consumer protection agenda;
• Good governance: with a focus on advancing the reform of state-owned enterprises by strengthening governance and transparency in this sector, including through the digitisation of public property information;
• Civil society: more active involvement of civil society in the process of consultation, monitoring and provision of technical assistance to advance reforms towards harmonisation with EU standards.

The developments and impact of regional and global crises on the socio-economic situation in Moldova in the context of the EU integration process were also discussed.

The meeting represented a great opportunity to underline the importance of civil society in the European integration of the Republic of Moldova and in the accession process of the country to the European Union.

* Photos: source EESC