Approximation of national legislation with the EU acquis – working sessions for the civil servants of the Republic of Moldova

During 6 December to 14 December 2022, the EU-funded project “Support for structured policy dialogue, coordination of the implementation of the Association Agreement (AA) and enhancement of the legal approximation process for the Republic of Moldova” organised four roundtables on EU approximation and the Moldova’s future EU accession process. Roundtables were organised in Chişinău for civil servants working on approximation process in the Government of Moldova.

Approximately 140 civil servants took part in these four roundtables, coming from: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry for Social Affairs, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry for Environment, the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry for Infrastructure, the National Agency for Food Safety, the National Statistical Bureau, the National Centre for Data Protection, the Competition Council, the Agency for Intellectual Property, the Agency for Medicines and Medical Devices, and the Parliament’s civil service. 

Approximation of the national legislation with the EU acquis is one of the cornerstones of EU accession negotiations. After Moldova’s application for EU membership and subsequent gaining the EU Candidate State status on 23 June 2022, such approximation of Moldova’s legislation has now gained the highest priority. With the future opening of accession negotiations approximation will gain additional importance.

The 1993 European Council held in Copenhagen defined the third criterion for accession to the EU as being “the ability to take on the obligations of membership, including adherence to the aims of political unification as well as Economic and Monetary Union (EMU)”. A country which wishes to join the EU must approximate its national legislation with the EU acquis during the EU accession negotiations. The EU acquis, as such, is not a subject of the country’s EU accession negotiations as the country must implement the entire EU acquis. Instead, the country negotiates about “how” and “when” it will fully implement the entire EU acquis in its legal system. 

This approach has been applied since 1973 and the first wave of enlargement of the European Economic Community (which later became the European Union). As of the day of accession, the EU acquis will be implemented in the territory of a new EU Member State in the same way as it is implemented in the territories of all other EU Member States. The only exceptions to this rule are possible transitional arrangements that can be exceptionally agreed during the accession negotiations. These exceptions are negotiated taking into consideration the specific situation in a Candidate country and allow it not to fully implement certain (specifically defined) EU acts in its territory for a limited period after its accession or to implement it in a specific way. These exceptions are very limited in time and scope.

The main topics discussed during the roundtable included: i) the EU law and sources of approximation obligation for Moldova, ii) general rules and principles of approximation of legislation with the EU acquis, iii) legal approximation in Moldova, iv) basic information on steps in accession negotiations and on the National Program for the Adoption of the Acquis, v) role of the Parliament in the EU accession process.

Roundtable was conducted by Mr. Primož Vehar, Project Team Leader and the former senior official within the Legislative Office of the Government of Slovenia responsible for legal approximation, and the former Head of the Secretariat of the Committee on EU Affairs in the Slovenian Parliament, and Mr. Vladimir Medjak, former Assistant Director of the Serbia Government Office for European Integration (who was responsible for the harmonisation of legislation and AA implementation) and former Chief Lawyer of Serbia’s accession negotiation team. Representatives of the Centre for Legal Approximation of the Government of Moldova took an active role in all roundtables and gave explanation on the process of the approximation in Moldova.

The experts explained the scope of the EU law, sources of EU law, types of EU legal acts, evolution of EU law, steps in the approximation process, types and levels of approximation, methods and techniques of transposing the EU legislation into national legislation, practical tips what to do and what not to do in the process, they elaborated on steps and requirements of the process of approximation in Moldova. Experts gave basic information on the accession process and the importance of and the place of approximation of legislation within the process. They paid particular attention to the role of the national parliament in the process of approximation of legislation and in the process of EU accession negotiations.

All participants received the “Handbook on the legal approximation as a key element for the successful integration process of the Republic of Moldova in the European Union”, written by both speakers in close cooperation with the experts from the Centre for Legal Approximation. The Handbook which among other issues also contains many practical examples and hints for legal approximation as well as presents the accession negotiations process, will be publicly presented on 12 January 2023 in Europa Café in Chişinău . 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 Moldovan Government and other key national institutions in implementing the EU-Republic of Moldova Association Agreement.