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Moldova deserves to be offered, some time in the future, the expression of the EU’s ultimate transformative power - the perspective of membership, Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Commissioner Štefan Füle told the EU-Moldova Forum in Berlin yesterday. He cited the “unprecedented consistency and speed of reforms, some truly challenging by their cost or their long-term transformative impact on Moldova’s society,” stressing it is the country’s performance that matters - not its size or the political colour of its government.
 
Moldova has turned from an uncertain supporter of the Eastern Partnership “into its most prominent member, into a staunchly committed and reliable partner,” the Commissioner stressed in his speech at the conference organized by Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung and Robert-Bosch-Stiftung.
 
When implemented, the EU-Moldova Association Agreement “will induce an even fuller reform agenda for Moldova, and the best prospect for Moldovan citizens to be assured of a future based on the European values and standards,” the Commissioner said, adding: “It will also boost our cooperation in foreign and security policy, help on regional issues and promote contacts between our citizens in numerous fields.”
 
Štefan Füle praised Moldova, including the government and the citizens, for its “remarkable commitment to our joint initiatives” – be they in the area of trade, visas, or political dialogue and coordination,” while urging it to be “stronger on social issues, bolder on improving the economic and investment climate, and more inclusive in the way reforms are prepared and implemented.”
 
The Commissioner said the EU in its turn should be coherent and deliver on its commitments when the agreed conditions have been met, “without holding up delivery.” In particular, he called on Germany fully to support the visa liberalisation process, now that Moldova has met the required benchmarks.
 
As a front-runner among the EU’s neighbourhood countries, Moldova is receiving “an unseen level of support, and certainly the highest in the European Neighbourhood,” the Commissioner said. For the first time ever this year, the EU’s assistance will far exceed the symbolic threshold of €100 million, he stressed, reaching €152 million - €41 per capita (including the Eastern Partnership Integration and Cooperation programme and macro-financial assistance disbursed last April).
 
“Moldova deserves continuous support to deliver on its commitments, and it is my conviction that it deserves an ambitious future,” said Štefan Füle, adding: “I'm talking here about the most powerful foreign policy instrument of the European Union and the expression of its ultimate transformative power - the perspective for a country to accede.”
 
Commissioner Füle concluded with a reference to Article 49 of the Treaty on the European Union: “Any European State which respects the [European] values and is committed to promoting them may apply to become a member of the Union.”(EU Neighbourhood Info)