The EU High Level Advisers Mission 2019 – 2022 comes to an end

A closing event marking the end of the four-year implementation period of the EU High Level Advisers’ Mission took place on 13 December, bringing together state officials, representatives of the European Union Delegation to the Republic of Moldova, EU High Level Advisers and project counterparts.

Over the course of four years, EU High Level Advisers have been providing support to Moldovan public institutions in implementing the reforms agenda, in particular assisting them in developing the capacities required for the implementation of the commitments under the Association Agreement and have proven to be instrumental in achieving important milestones in Moldova’s European integration path. The following sectors benefitted from the strategic policy advice: Anticorruption; Anti-Money Laundering and Asset Recovery; Confidence Building Measures; Customs and Tax Policy (Domestic Revenue Mobilisation); Diplomatic and European Affairs; Education and Research; Energy; Financial Services; Green Transition; Internal Security Affairs; Justice and Prosecution; Local Public Administration Reform, including Decentralisation and Voluntary Amalgamation; Reforms Coordination; Strategic Coordination and European Affairs. Fifteen institutions received the advice of top EU experts in their development efforts.

At the closing event, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova, Natalia Gavrilita, stated that the EU assistance through its High-Level Advisers’ Mission has proven to be one of the most efficient assistance programmes in the development of public policies and resulted in numerous reforms and modernisation in the public system of the country. The official expressed her hope for the continuation of the project and increase of supported sectors: ‘At this stage, the necessary transformations and reforms have a clear roadmap, imposed by our objective of EU membership, and the expertise of senior EU advisers in this process will be extremely valuable.’

In his turn, the EU Ambassador to the Republic of Moldova, Jānis Mažeiks, noted: ‘The High Level Advisors Mission is not a mere project, but a long standing support programme that the EU is providing to the Republic of Moldova since 2011, and we will continue to provide in the future as well.’

A new phase of the EU High Level Advisers’ Mission is envisaged to start in January 2023.