Romanian MEP Dragoș Tudorache said that to obtain the status of candidate for membership of the European Union, a unanimous vote is needed in the Council of the European Union. Therefore, each member state will have to be sure that the Republic of Moldova deserves this status. Moreover, Moldova in the pre-accession process needs to secure solid economic growth that would take the country up to the level of the EU member states, IPN reports.
Dragoș Tudorache noted Moldova’s decision to submit an application for EU membership shows that the Moldovan authorities are sincere in their wish to Europeanize and modernize the country. The obtaining of the candidate country status is a thorny process during which each member needs to be persuaded that Moldova is a European state not only by its geographical position.
“At the level of the European Parliament, our position was very open and was expressed by all the political groups. This means that everyone wants to see the Republic of Moldova a candidate country. But unanimity is needed in the Council when considering conferring the candidate country status and we should be very realistic here. We must prepare this moment as well as we can. We must take each member state apart and work to persuade them that the Republic of Moldova has merits. If we look at the geopolitical context, we cannot ignore this application and cannot refuse to anchor the Republic of Moldova to this path as firmly as possible,” MEP Dragoș Tudorache stated in the talk show “In Depth” on ProTV Chisinau channel.
He noted the Republic of Moldova should do all the profound reforms so as to democratize society and to strengthen the state institutions. The ensuring of economic growth and improvement of citizen wellbeing are the most complex processes.
“The economic chapter means bringing the candidate status to a social, economic convergence level that is enough to reach a level comparable with that of the member states. This is not easy. The economic integration of a new state should be based on balance or dysfunctions that affect the citizens and the candidate country’s economy appear. It is in the interests of the Republic of Moldova to achieve this level of convergence as swiftly as possible and it is also in the interests of the citizens, regardless of the accession, as this means welfare, performing economy and, respectively, incomes for the population,” said Dragoș Tudorache.
Moldova’s application to become a member of the EU was signed by President Maia Sandu, Parliament Speaker Igor Grosu and Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilița on March 3, shortly after Ukraine and Georgia submitted similar applications to Brussels.
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