Speech on the occasion of the handover ceremony of the completed EU accession questionnaire of the Republic of Moldova

Check against delivery!

Dear Madam President, dear Mister Speaker, dear Madam Prime Minister,

Only 10 days ago, Commissioner Varhelyi handed over the first part of the questionnaire – a very substantive one – to the Deputy Prime Minister Popescu, and we already have the replies of the Moldovan Government.

This speed clearly shows the determination of the President, of the Government and indeed of the Moldovan people to do the utmost to bring your country to the European family as quickly as possible.

In a way, preparing the answers must have been easy and difficult at the same time.

Easy because, after all, these questions build upon the implementation of the Association Agreement and the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area Agreement, upon which we have been developing our relationship with the Republic of Moldova for years.

At the same time, preparing the answers must have been difficult, because answering these questions most likely showed the areas where more work is necessary to meet the Copenhagen criteria.

Submitting the answers to the questionnaire is the first step in a long process. Just days ago Republic of Moldova received the second part of the questionnaire which is even more substantive, as it covers all of the EU acquis communautaire.

We look forward to receiving the replies to these questions, as they will be necessary for the formulation of the Commission’s Opinion in light of the membership criteria, as requested by the European Council.

The information provided by the Moldovan authorities will now be transmitted to my colleagues in the Headquarters, in order to feed into the analysis of the Commission and the formulation of the Opinion on the Republic of Moldova’s application for membership.

Once again, I congratulate you warmly for this information provided! We look forward to continued working closely with you as partners during the following steps of your European path. Într-un ceas bun!

Jānis Mažeiks

Ambassador, Head of the EU Delegation to the Republic of Moldova