Remarks by High Representative/Vice President Federica Mogherini at the press conference following the EU-Moldova Association Council
Brussels, 14/03/2016
160314_03_en
14/03/2016
Thank you very much.
Mr Prime Minister, it is a pleasure to welcome you here in Brussels, together with the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, together with the Delegation of your government for the second meeting of our Association Council that just finished the plenary, the formal part.
We were late because the meeting was extremely productive, frank, detailed. We tackled all the different issues we had on our agenda, in a very, I think, exhaustive way which is always a good sign.
We agreed last month at the Foreign Affairs Council to continue monitoring and following the political and economic situation in the Republic of Moldova and supporting the country and its people.
The Association Council is serving exactly this purpose: it is a moment of deep exchange with our Moldovan friends and partners on where we stand on the implementation of the key reforms that we agreed upon, as listed in the Council conclusions, and it is also a moment when we discuss among us the better ways to support the work of Moldova on the reform path, on the Association Agreement and how to work together in the best possible way for the benefit of our people.
We have agreed today that we will continue to support the Republic of Moldova with the implementation of the reform programme it has committed to in the framework of the Association Agreement, including its DCFTA, on which we share the way to see concrete actions and results. I think this is the main political outcome of our meeting, a common assessment and a common will to move to the delivery part of our common work.
We agreed on the importance of intensifying key political and economic reforms in Moldova. We discussed in particular the importance of de-politicising the state institutions, fighting systemic corruption, investigating the banking frauds and reforming the justice and banking sectors in the interest, first and foremost, of the Moldovan citizens who are the first we have in mind all along our work.
In this respect, the Prime Minister presented to us how Moldovan government plans to implement its commitment to reform through the roadmap on priority reform action. And we believe that by implementing the Association Agreement and the reforms, Moldova will transform itself economically, socially and politically, and again I stress to the benefit of the Moldovan citizens. The real challenge is now to move towards the delivering of reforms.
We, as the European Union, are ready to support the Republic of Moldova, also including financially once all conditions are fulfilled and we hope that we will see, as I said, implementation of key reforms taking place.
We will have further discussions in an informal setting on other points of interest, including the situation in Transnistria, but I would like to thank once again the Prime Minister and the rest of the government delegation present here for a very fruitful exchange today. I think this is extremely promising for the continuation of our common work.
Link to the video: https://ec.europa.eu/avservices/video/player.cfm?ref=I118127