The 12th meeting of the Moldova-European Union Cooperation Committee was held in Chisinau yesterday. The event was co-chaired by Deputy Foreign and European Integration Minister Natalia Gherman and the head of the European Commission’s Unit for Relations with Russia, Eastern Partnership and acting director for Eastern Europe, Southern Caucasus, and Central Asia, in the Commission’s Directorate-General for External Relations, Gunnar Wiegand.
The participants in the meeting reviewed the events which took place on the Moldova-EU agenda. The sides agreed on the steps due to be undertaken to achieve the common objectives. The EU delegation emphasized the existence of a very good cooperation with Moldova. Also, Gunnar Wiegand stressed the significant progress which Moldova has made while fulfilling the assumed commitments. He said Moldova’s actions in the rapprochement with the EU are coherent.
Gherman said the efforts taken by the Moldovan authorities are positively appreciated in a string of important documents of EU institutions. In this respect, Gherman referred to the results of the Eastern Partnership’s summit, the European Parliament’s September resolution, which clearly recognizes Moldova’s European prospect, as well as the European Commission’s and Council of Europe’s important decisions on Moldova’s European integration.
The delegations touched upon a set of aspects of the bilateral collaboration, such as the implementation of the Moldova-EU Action Plan, political dialogue, social and economic reforms, development, cooperation in the justice and domestic affairs fields.
The sides also discussed trade issues, regulatory reform and customs cooperation. The sectorial dialogue included the areas of transport, energy, information society, environment and people-to-people contacts. The delegations spoke about negotiations on the Association Agreement, as well as prospects for starting talks on a deep and comprehensive free trade area.
The dynamic in the implementation of the action plan on the visa free regime, prospects for Moldova’s accession to the Common Aviation Area, as well as Moldova holding the chairmanship in the Energy Community Treaty were described as Moldova’s success.
Both delegations welcomed the resumption of the 5+2 negotiations on the Transnistrian conflict settlement, voicing hope that the first official round will be held till late 2011.
The Moldovan and EU representatives discussed cooperation in the coordination of the EU’s assistance for the European integration process. They also discussed ways to extend Moldova’s participation in EU programmes and agencies.
Source: http://bsanna-news.ukrinform.ua
