November 8 (SeeNews) - The European Commission (EC) said on Wednesday that it recommends that the European Council open accession negotiations with Moldova.
Moldova has made progress in the areas of public administration, judiciary and fight against corruption. However, there are still challenges that need to be addressed, the EC said.
The country has made significant progress in electoral reform, but further steps are needed to ensure transparency and accountability. Moldova's parliament has played a major role in the EU accession process, while its government has worked actively on the EU reform agenda.
In the field of public administration there is a need to address the issue of salary disparity and ensure that all civil servants receive fair compensation. Also, in the justice sector concerns remain about the length of proceedings and the low clearance rate.
Despite Moldova's anti-corruption efforts, more needs to be done to ensure that high-level corruption cases are prosecuted effectively. In the fight again organised crime Moldova needs to improve cooperation with EU member states and address the issue of asset recovery.
Moldova has a pluralistic media environment, but there are challenges related to ownership concentration and political bias in state media, the EC said.
The country is in early stages of preparation when it comes to establishing a functioning market economy, the environment and climate change, and its capacity to cope with competitive pressure and market forces in the EU.
Moldova applied for EU membership in March 2022 and was granted candidate status in June the same year.