European Council to agree on its position concerning Reform and Growth Facility of Moldova

Chisinau, 17 December /MOLDPRES/ - The European Council today agreed on its position of negotiation on the Reform and Growth Facility for Moldova. This is the financial pillar of the Growth Plan for Moldova, unveiled by the European Commission in last October.    

The facility will support Moldova in the carrying out of the reforms related to EU and will stimulate its economic convergence with EU, based on an agenda of  ambitious reforms. The Facility will also promote Moldova’s aligning with the values, laws, norms, standards, policies and practices of EU for the future accession to the European Union. ‘’The Facility will cover the period 2025-2027 and it is scheduled to provide Moldova with up to 285 million euros in grants and 1.5 billion euros in concessional loans ,’’ the European Council said.  

„EU is firmly resolute to back Moldova on the way of accession to EU. The comprehensive reforms, along with the investments, are essential to bring Moldova closer to EU. The new facility will give a significant impetus to the EU’s support for such reforms and investments. It gives Moldova a unique occasion to boost the processes of accession and reform in the next years,’’ Minister of European Affairs of Hungary János Bóka said.  

The principal elements of the European Council’s mandate

The Council’s position of negotiation closely shows the Commission’s proposals of establishing the mechanism, based on the Reform and Growth Facility for the Western Balkans.   

At the same time, in its mandate, the European Council puts additional emphasis on supporting Moldova in the management and attenuation of the challenges triggered by Russia’s aggression war against Ukraine and the attempts to destabilize Moldova.  

Other adjustings of the Commission’s proposal regard the consolidation of the Council’s role in governing the facility. This refers especially to its role in the adoption and change of the reform agenda, the monitoring of the fulfillment of the preliminary conditions for the providing of support on behalf of EU and the assessment of the fulfilment of the conditions of payment.   

Next stages

The agreement on the Council’s position of negotiation will allow the chairmanship of the council to start the negotiations with the European Parliament, after the Parliament votes its mandate.  

On 10  October 2024, the European Commission unveiled a growth plan for Moldova, based on three pillars: backing the social, economic and fundamental reforms of Moldova through a specific reform agenda; improvement of Moldova’s access to the EU’s single market and increase of the financial support in the next three years through a specific reform and growth facility for Moldova.  

The package of 1.8 billion euros is the biggest EU’s financial support package for Moldova since the proclamation of its independence.