Presentation of the handbook on legal approximation as a key element for the successful integration process of the Republic of Moldova into the European Union
On 12 January 2023, a public event was held in Europe Café in Chișinău, dedicated to the presentation of the Handbook on the legal approximation, written by Mr Vladimir Međak and Mr Primož Vehar, both experts on the EU-funded project “Support for structured policy dialogue, coordination of the implementation of the Association Agreement and enhancement of the legal approximation process in the Republic of Moldova”. The participants to the event were mostly mass media and representatives of non-governmental organisations.
The Handbook on the legal approximation presents theoretical and practical information on EU legislation and the basic principles of operation of the institutions of the European Union, explains the stages and the process of the legal harmonization process, provides useful advice how to transpose EU legislation, what to do and what not to do in the process, based on the experience of previous rounds of enlargement while placing the entire process into the context of the national legal system of the Republic of Moldova. The Handbook also explains the next steps for the Republic of Moldova in the EU accession negotiations and the role of the National Parliament in this process. Handbook was drafted by two practically oriented in legal approximation experienced lawyers in close cooperation with the State Chancellery, Centre for Legal Approximation.
Introductory remarks were given by Jānis Mažeiks, Ambassador of the European Union to the Republic of Moldova, Vladimir Cuc, State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, Adrian Băluțel, State Secretary of the Government and Natalia Suceveanu, Head of the Centre for Legal Approximation, State Chancellery.
The authors of the Handbook, Primož Vehar and Vladimir Međak presented the process of legal harmonization as a key element for the success of the process of integration of the Republic of Moldova into the European Union and also provided answers on several interesting questions from the audience.
Mr. Vehar, the Team Leader of the Project and a former senior official within the Legislative Office of the Government of Slovenia responsible for legal approximation and a former Head of the Secretariat of the Committee on EU Affairs in the Slovenian Parliament, emphasised that legal harmonisation is not a copy paste exercise. He pointed that EU directives and regulations cannot be just copied nor could the Romanian legislation be simple copied, no matter how close it is due to the language, but it can be used as a source of very useful direction, information and comparison. Legal approximation is a highly demanding process of drafting a domestic Moldovan legislation, for citizens and economic operators from Moldova which bring the rule of law, better economic functioning, better social rights, more production and export, cleaner environment, and higher living standard at the end what we can see from the example of the new EU member states in the Central and Eastern Europe. However, legal approximation is not a mechanical task to be done from today till tomorrow but a demanding process which requests a lot of attention, especially proper planning, impact assessments, consultations as well as resources therefore it has to be done gradually.
Mr. Međak, senior expert on the Project and a former Assistant Director of Government Office for European Integration, responsible for the approximation of legislation and the former Chief lawyer in the EU accession negotiation team of Serbia, emphasised that accession negotiations will be the process of adapting the Moldova’s legal and institutional system to the EU system. He stressed that the main principle of accession negotiations is that negotiations aim at full alignment with and implementation of the EU acquis at a cut-off-date, so that a new member would be able to implement EU policies and take full benefits of EU accession from the moment of accession. At the same time the EU law is not negotiable, so a candidate country can negotiate only “when” and “how” it will harmonise its legislation with the EU legislation. It can however negotiate possible transitional arrangements and specific arrangements for implementation of the EU law after accession. Nevertheless, at the end of accession negotiations, Moldova will be harmonised with the EU legislation. The process takes time and a lot of effort, but it can be done if there is the will to do it and enough assistance in expertise and funds to support necessary reforms.
In the month after the presentation of the Handbook a series of special legal approximation trainings were held by the authors for the public administration and the Handbook in Romanian was delivered to civil servants attending the training as well as to the Universities. Handbook will contribute to the better implementation of the legal approximation process as one of the key challenges for Republic of Moldova in the efforts to join EU.
The Handbook is also available online:
The EU-funded project “Support for structured policy dialogue, coordination of the implementation of the Association Agreement and enhancement of the legal approximation process in the Republic of Moldova” aims at increasing the capacities of the Moldova Government and other key national institutions in implementing the EU-Moldova Association Agreement. After Moldova’s receipt of EU Candidacy status, the Project is ready to offer advanced assistance for strengthening the Moldovan administration to be ready for the next steps in EU integration process.