la parlamentul european a avut loc o dezbatere despre Moldova. a fost invitat insarcinatul cu afaceri (care il inlocuieste pe ambasadorul carpov) de la misiunea Moldovei la UE. iata mai jos un raport scurt (scris de un prieten prezent la eveniment) despre cele discutate si preocuparile deputatilor europeni. intalnirea a fost organizata de EP Delegation to the EU-Moldova Parliamentary Cooperation Committee 11 April 2007, from 3.00 to 4.00 pm in Room ASP 5E-2, European Parliament.

Dear all,

I attended the debate organized by the European Parliament Delegation to Moldova today. Members of the EP, EU SR Mizsei, European Commission (EC) officials and the Moldovan Mission participated. Here are few issues discussed:

The Moldovan Mission representative acknowledged that the reforms are slow; the initial enthusiasm of fast Action Plan implementation faded away. He mentioned that three biggest problems are media freedom, functioning of the judiciary and investment climate. The main reason he sees is not the lack of political will to reform but the deficit of human resources (not enough qualified experts in all fields). He mentioned the recent Voronin 3 proposals for economy liberalization, and the EU officials were interested to hear more about them.

EC: visa facilitation agreement – the last round of negotiation next week, it will be signed soon. The Commission is preparing the list of products to be included into the ATP to be offered to Moldova by the end of this year, however they want to make sure it doesn’t go counter the EU commitments within WTO (e.i. agricultural goods).

Transnistria: no progress foreseen, Mizsei is traveling extensively to all the capitals involved, but he is still in the “learning” process

Local elections: the recent events of 27 March were raised – freedom of assembly, media freedom. The Moldovan representative avoided to comment on the election campaign, as “not all the political parties have announced their candidates for elections”, referring to the fact that the Communist Party doesn’t yet have a candidate for the Chisinau Mayor (as if the local elections is only about Chisinau and only about the Communist Party). As regard freedom of assembly “the organizers had to seek authorization as good citizens and if refused – to seek justice in courts and not in the streets”.

Next exam: Apparently the Chisinau authorities banned for a third consequent year a LGBT Pride planned in Chisinau for 27 April. Some MEPs will travel to Chisinau to support the event anyway and will go to the streets. If the authorities continue harassing, they promised to push for counter-measures, including re. EU assistance to Moldova.