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3EVALUATION OF MOLDOVAN AUTHORITIES ATTITUDES,

CAPACITIES AND NEEDS IN TERMS OF EU I NTEGRATION PROCESS

EVALUATION OF MOLDOVAN

AUTHORITIES ATTITUDES,CAPACITIES AND NEEDS IN

TERMS OF EU INTEGRATIONPROCESS

Mircea BordeianuOlesea Cruc Ion Osoian

This product was financially supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation. Opinions expressein this publication do not necessarily represent those of the Hanns Seidel Foundation.

Chiinu, 2011

Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) Viitorul


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4EVALUATION OF MOLDOVAN AUTHORITIES ATTITUDES,CAPACITIES AND NEEDS IN TERMS OF EU I NTEGRATION PROCESS

This product was financially supported by the HannsSeidel Foundation. Opinions expressed in this publicationdo not necessarily represent those of the Hanns Seidel

Foundation.For any information related to this study, please contactthe Institute for Development and Social InitiativesViitorul, Study Coordinator: Leonid Litra.

Address: MD-2005, Republic of Moldova, Chiinu, 10/1Iacob Hancu str., IDIS Viitorul

Tel: 37322-22-18-44, Fax: 37322-24-57-14

e-mail: [email protected] and [email protected]

IDIS Viitorul, 2011


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SUMMARY

List of tables and gures ................................... .................................... .................................... 6

Executive Summary ............................... ................................... .................................... ............ 7Mircea Bordeianu Chapter 1. European integration as a dening factor of Moldova domesticpolicies ................................ ................................... .................................... ........................ 9

European Integration vs. economic transition ................................. .................................... 9

EU political, legal and nancial framework ................................ .................................... ...... 10

EU policies towards Moldova ................................ .................................... ........................ 13

EU Integration on internal agenda ................................ .................................... .................. 14

Communication .................................. .................................... .................................... ...... 17

Coordinating European Integration........................................... .................................... ...... 17

The quality of the policy documents .................................. .................................... ............ 18

More Reforms for accelerated European Integration. .................................. ........................ 20

Conclusions ................................. .................................... .................................... ............ 21

Ion Osoian Chapter 2. Transposing policies at regional and local level ................................... ...... 23

Regional Development Agencies ................................. .................................... .................. 28

Local Governments .................................. .................................... .................................... 29

Conclusions and recommendations .................................. .................................... ............ 31

Olesea Cruc Chapter 3. Evolution of pro-EU attitudes among population, central and local

authorities ................................ ................................... .................................... ........................ 33Evolvement of EU attitudes among the population of the Republic of Moldova .................... 34

Attitudes regarding EU integration among central and local authorities ................................ 37

Understanding of their role in the integration process ................................. ........................ 37

Assessing own capacities for the implementation of EU regulations .................................... 38

Expectations from the EU integration ................................. .................................... ............ 39

Main areas of transformation ................................. .................................... ........................ 40

General Conclusion .............................. .................................... .................................... ............ 42


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LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Table 2.1. Number of project proposals submitted to RDAs in 2010, by priority Table 2.2 Average size of municipalities in the EU member states + Moldova in 2009 (inhabitants)Table 2.3 What problems did you encounter in relation to co-funding of the awarded projects?

(multiple answers)Table 2.4. What kind of projects do you consider necessary to be implemented in your community?Table 2.5. Who helps you to develop project proposals?Table 2.6 What are the main obstacles in implementation of European projects (multiple answers)Table 2.7. How many employees of the mayoralty speak English at a satisfactory level?

Fig.1.1 Fullment of attributions referring to EU integrationFig.1. 2 EU nancing through micro-nancial assistance and National Indicative Programmes in total

and National actions Plans.Fig.3.1. Knowledge about EUFig.3.2. Sources of information about EUFig. 3.3. Estimation of quantity of information about EUFig.3.4 Level of interest towards RM EU relationsFig. 3.5. e vote for the accession to EU and NATO in case of a referendumFig. 3.6. Opinions regarding EU accession of RMFig. 3.7. Image of EU in RMFig. 3.8. Image of RM in EUFig. 3.9. Sources of information about EU of local authorities, 2011Fig. 3.10. Opinions regarding advantages and disadvantages after EU integrationFig.3.11 Expected changes in RM after EU integrationFig.3.12 Estimated areas where special attention from Moldovan authorities is needed for EU

integration processFig.3.13 Estimated obstacles for EU integration


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In 2010, Moldova launched its negotia-tions with the EU for an Association Agreement.is involves a complex process of adjusting

technical and strategic skills at the level ofadministrative and political bodies of the na-tional government and its subsidiary agencies,aimed at achieving compatibility of the domes-tic laws and practices with the EU acquis com-munautaire. Negotiations will allow Moldovanauthorities to continue countrys institutionaladaptation to the EU through approximationof legislation, assimilation of standards andtechnical requirements, but also, through theabsorption of relevant administrative capaci-ties and experience. roughout the processof negotiations, Moldovan authorities shall ac-quire strategic skills in the denition, planningand implementation of the policy benchmarksagreed upon with the European Commission.Nevertheless, this affects only a negligible andinsignicant segment of the Moldovan society,leaving untouched considerable categories ofthe population. Considering the above, it isof utmost importance to understand how thepublic mindset is shaped by the negotiations

process, what the main ideas, fears, hopes are,as dened by certain categories: general popu-lation, central and local authorities.

e rst part of the studyEvaluationof Moldovan authorities attitudes, capacitiesand needs in terms of EU integration process isdedicated to the existing policies in the areaof European Union integration and their re-

sults in order to identify positive or negativeattitudes. Speaking about attitudes of any au-thorities towards an issue, it is justied to pre-

sume that these attitudes are best reected inthe quality and quantity of policies promotedby those authorities with respect to the issue atstake. us, by evaluating existing policies inthe area of European Union (EU) integrationand their respective characteristics and results,we can assess the authorities attitudes towardsEU integration beyond political rhetoric. isimplicit causal relationship involves a strongwill and favourable attitude to be reected insound policies and their efficient implemen-tation while the deciency in either the cleardenition or implementation of a policy willdepict certain derogative form of a favourableattitude. Also, as an alternative to the conclu-sion of a negative attitude we will consider thecase when a potentially positive attitude has anegative score in implementation due to cer-tain constraints in capacity to dene, imple-ment and evaluate a public policy. is willhighlight possible directions of capacity build-ing that is the major topic of the present paper. Also, while discussing different policies it willbe distinguished between the policies relevantto the EU integration and those relevant to the

general economic transition. Different types ofeconomic reforms and participation in Euro-pean initiatives have been characteristic forMoldova since the rst years of its independ-ence while EU integration priority appears ata later stage.

Many governmental actions have a last-ing impact at local and regional levels, thus

the second chapter of the study assesses theinstitutional framework and the capacitiescreated at the regional and local level in the

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY


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context of tackling the priorities stemmingfrom the European integration process. EUbest practices show that regional developmentissues received an institutionalised and multi-annual programming prole when govern-ments acknowledged that past policies havefailed to signicantly reduce regional dispari-ties. e capacities of local government to un-dertake tasks related to European integrationare analysed from the perspective of encoun-tered problems and difficulties. e authorsevaluate the strengths and weaknesses of thenewly established regional bodies in the con-

text of EU practices. e implementation ofthe decentralisation reform and further scaldecentralization are seen as possibility to fos-ter local economic development and form ef-cient partnerships for transposing Europeanintegration-related policies at the local and re-gional levels.

e third chapter of the study assesses in

a comparative manner the attitudes expressedby the general public, local public authoritiesand central institutions in charge of Europeanintegration sector policies. Having such an im-portant role in the EU integration process, thecentral authorities, as well as the local admin-istration, serve as a channel of communicationwith population. In this regard, the expecta-tions of local and central authorities regard-ing the EU integration process are identiedand compared with the ones expressed by thepublic.

Due to the availability of data for 2008,the authors present the evolution of EU at-titudes among population of the Republic ofMoldova, comparing such indicators as knowl-edge about EU, sources of information regard-

ing EU integration, level of interest and opin-ions regarding EU accession of the Republic

of Moldova. Central and local authorities wereconsulted to evaluate the level of understand-ing of their role in the EU integration processand to capacities for the implementation of EUregulations. A separate section of this chapterincluded the assessment of expectancies fromEU integration and main areas of transforma-tion as seen by central and local authorities.

Methodology of evaluation ofMoldovan authorities attitudes, capacities andneeds in terms of EU integration process con-sisted of several methods:

1. Opinion polls among the general

public, based on a sample representative of theadult population of the Republic of Moldova,excluding Transnistria (20081; 20112). Bothsurveys were coordinated by IDIS Viitoruland used a similar set of questions in order toassess opinions regarding the EU and EU in-tegration.

2. Evaluation (through self-administered

questionnaire) of 16 Central Public Authorities(14 ministries and 2 divisions from the StateChancellery).

3. Evaluation of Local Public Authoritiesopinions through self-administered question-naire on a total sample: 39 LPAs from differentregions and of heterogeneous prole: villages,small towns and cities.

1 Report on the assessment of public perception regardingthe process of European Integration and implementation of Eu-ropean Union Republic of Moldova Action Plan, IDIS Viitorul,20082 European Union the Great Challenge of the Republic ofMoldova Nationwide survey, March IDIS Viitorul, 2011


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CHAPTER 1.EUROPEAN INTEGRATION AS

A DEFINING FACTOR OF MOLDOVA DOMESTIC POLICIES Mircea Bordeianu

European Integration vs.economic transition

ere is a certain overlap between eco-

nomic transition policies and EU integrationcaused by the perception of the EU institu-tions and EU member-states systems as mostplausible models for Moldovas transition. EUintegration is often seen as the only game intown for the Central and Eastern Europeancountries (CEE), including Moldova, in termsof the end state of the reforms and the rela-

tionship with the EU. Initially, the EU (thenECC) - Moldova agreements had the goal tosupport the countrys transition towards mar-ket economy and consolidated democracy.Today, the EU still sees general economic anddemocratic reforms as an essential prerogativefor any advancement towards full-edged EUintegration (i. e. Copenhagen Criteria). How-ever, in political rhetoric the goal of soundeconomic reforms for the sake of countrysprosperity is often replaced with the goal ofEU integration. Such a substitution allows tomask the internal deciencies in reforms im-plementation under the difficulties in obtain-ing EU candidacy perspectives. Apart from thenecessary differentiation of the European Inte-gration goal from that of economic and demo-cratic transition, there is also certain diffusioncaused by Moldova's involvement with otherEuropean initiatives that go in parallel with

the EUs. Currently, Moldova is a member ofover 60 international and regional organisa-tions with estimated costs of 46.7 million lei,55% of which is the share of historical debts,

with only 45 % being the membership feesfor the current year3. An attempt to introducesome rules for the countrys external participa-tion was made in 2008 through the Govern-ment decision 454, but since then no followup analysis was performed. Moldova wouldbenet from a more careful selection of forumsto participate in, with EU integration as the

selection criterion4

, apart from the avoidanceof effort dispersion and a strategic focus of itslimited administrative and nancial capacity.

e costs to the country should include notonly nancial cost of the membership fees andcountrys capacity to undertake the resultingcommitments, but also the civil servants' sal-aries and travel costs. All of these should beassessed against possible benets for an ordi-nary citizen and internal reforms, rather thangeneral visibility. It is time that Moldova getover its adolescent need for `self affirmation`on external arena, achieving visibility throughparticipation in every single initiative as a suf-cient benet, and start assessing its participa-tion from a more strategic perspective of theconcrete benets a certain initiative will bring

3 Data from ministry of Finance. http://www.mf.gov.md/ro/cooperinternal/org/4 IDIS Viitorul research Moldovas membership fees.http://www.viitorul.org/public/3334/en/Policy_Statewatch21_en.pdf


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for the internal reforms and EU Integrationprocess. Similarly to an ex-ante analysis fornew policies, the introduction of an evidence-based costs vs. efficiency analysis of countrysparticipation in different international initia-tives will greatly help the country. e prefer-ence should be given to those initiatives thathelp advancement towards European integra-tion and economic prosperity.

EU political, legal and financial framework

e legal basis of all the policies in thearea of EU integration for Moldova is still therst legal framework of partnership and coop-eration between Moldova and the EuropeanCommunities (EC) in the form of Partnershipand Cooperation type of Agreements5 (PCA)active since 1998. Similar to ten other PCAswith countries emerged from the implosion ofthe Soviet Union, Moldova EU PCA doesnot include the perspective of EU accessionand serves four objectives6. Institutional pro-visions, still active today, are the establish-ment of a Cooperation Council, responsiblefor supervising the implementation of thePCAs, that meets at ministerial level once ayear with participation of the Prime Ministerof Moldova, EU commissioner for external re-lations, representative of the EU council andthe EU Parliament. e Council is assistedby the EU-Moldova Cooperation Committee

5 Full text of MOLDOVA EU PCA can be found here: http://ec.europa.eu/world/agreements/prepareCreateTreatiesWork-space/treatiesGeneralData.do?step=0&redirect=true&treatyId=1936 Partnership and Cooperation Agreement Full text signed on28 November 1994 by the European Union and the Republic of

Moldova. Goals: a) political dialogue, b) trade, investment andeconomic relationships and development c) support in transi-tion to market economy and democracy consolidation, and d)provide a basis for legislative, economic, social, nancial, andcultural cooperation.

and EU-Moldova Parliamentary CooperationCommittee (PCC)7. ere are also ve sub-committees8 responsible for implementing theprovisions of the PCA in key areas. Since 1998,changes both in Europe and Moldova signi-cantly transformed the context of the EU -Moldova relationship. e EU enlargementtowards 10 CEE countries, appearance of theEuropean Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), onthe side of the EU, and Moldovas demand forperspective of EU accession are only a few ofchanged conditions. e EU Neighbourhoodand Partnership Instrument (ENPI) developed

in the process of the 2004 EU enlargement ispart of the European Neighbourhood Policy(ENP) and replaced TACIS9 for Moldova inthe same year. e ENPs goal is to share theEUs stability, security and prosperity beyondEU borders, but in a way that is distinct fromthe EU membership. us, the ENPI seems tobe broader than PCA initially envisaged, but

at the same time it is narrower in scope thanMoldovas desired goal of EU accession. Mostquestionable in these circumstances are the in-stitutional settings since the goals of coopera-tion were updated through the EU Moldova Action Plan. Currently negotiated agreementof the Association type is in advanced stage.However, the nalisation of negotiation mighttake up to several years, since the AA also in-cludes Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) that implies the implementa-tion of rather serious structural reforms. Cur-rently, the EU-Moldova relationship can bedened as transitional, when legal and insti-tutional settings lag behind the real objectives

7 More on PCA including objectives here http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/external_relations/relations_with_third_ countries/eastern_europe_and_central_asia/r17002_en.htm8 a) Commerce and Investment, b) Finance, Economics andStatistics, c) Customs, trans-border cooperation, justice and in-ternal affairs. d) Energy, Environment, Transportation, Telecom-munications, Science, Technology and Education.9 Some TACIS programms go beyond 2006


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and desired outcomes. Since nalisation of theagreement might take several years, Moldovashould avoid postponing activities until theend of negotiations and start already now toreform institutions in line with AA goals.

Both improvements in administrativecapacity and internal economic and structuralreforms should accelerate irrespective of thetiming of AA negotiations but stay well fo-cused on the content. While the timing forsigning of the document will be chosen basedon political reasoning, the technical compo-nents will remain unchanged. e strategy

of being less obsessed with the EU member-ship, but rather accelerate the reforms alreadyagreed upon might bring more dividends inthe long term. It is reasonable to hope that thecurrent EUs fatigue of enlargement will passand Moldova will be judged based on meritsof real progress. is years postponement ofRomania and Bulgaria accession to the Schen-

gen area demonstrated that even in case of ac-cepted member states the absence of irrevers-ible reforms10 in most problematic areas willlead to the freeze of the agreements. Even inthe absence of clearly stated EU perspectives,Moldova should negotiate maximum involve-ment in EU programs and initiatives that areavailable and comparable with those offered tothe candidate countries and progress on alreadyagreed reforms. De factoEU integration at thelevel of resources and instruments will avoidthe pitfall of controversial political debates re-lated to EU internal politics. Once Moldovawill be internally ready to full all Copenha-gen criteria, the resistance to being accepted asan EU candidate will seriously diminish. Par-10 Netherlands postponed the 2012 accession of romania

and bulgaria http://socyberty.com/government/the-netherlands-postponed-the-2012-accession-of-romania-and-bulgaria-to-the-schengen-area-it-is-imperative-that-judicial-reforms-to-be-effective-and-irreversible/

ticipation beyond membership is also foreseenin recent EC and EP communication related tothe changing Neighbourhood11 and the morefor more principle (more aid, integration formore democratic reform). us, Moldova willmake a much wiser choice by starting to con-centrate already now on internal reforms thatwill be needed once the AA is in place. eareas of efforts are well known and were madeonce again public through both most recentMoldovas Progress Report and the declarationof the EU Commissioner for Enlargement andENP, tefan Fle, during his meeting with the

Prime Minister of Moldova in the end of June. Among other things, there was mentioned thegeneral absence of a large scale reform, theneed for more sustainable efforts to ght cor-ruption, reform the judiciary, prosecution andpolice, and implement certain human rightscommitments, as well as a too limited progressin improving the functioning of the market

economy, the business and investment climatethrough reforms aimed at achieving trans-parency and predictability of business condi-tions. 12 Current IDIS Viitorul survey amongcivil servants completes the above mentionedwith the areas that might experience a negativedevelopment as result of the EU integration:prices, political situation, justice reform,industry competiveness, agriculture andenvironment.

11 JOINT COMMUNICATION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLI- AMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC ANDSOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE RE-GIONS A new response to a changing Neighbourhood http://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/moldova/documents/press_cor-ner/20110526_02_en.pdf 12 ENPI info center. http://www.enpi-info.eu/maineast.php?id_type=1&id=25360&lang_id=450


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Fig.1.1 IDIS Viitorul survey

Another untapped opportunity forMoldova to get further involved in the EUprogrammes without AA in place is the con-clusion of an additional Protocol to the PCAon the general principles for Moldova's par-ticipation in EU programmes13 and Moldovasaccess to other EU assistance instruments,which would benet both state actors and civil

society 14

. Most of these invitations also im-ply co-nancing programs from the nationalbudget15. Similarly to the above mentionedcost vs. benets analysis of the participation ofMoldova in the non-EU European initiatives,EU programs should be carefully assessed too,in terms of relevance and potential benet forMoldovas internal agenda in terms of internalpriorities and following Paris Declaration cri-teria. Here, again, costs should be estimatednot only at the level of countrys membershipfees, but also in terms of working time of civ-il servants and future costs of participation.

13 The European Parliament adopted a legislative resolutionon Council decision on 27 October 2010. http://www.enpi-info.eu/maineast.php?id=23289&id_type=1&lang_id=45014 e.g. ENPI regional programmes, such as Cross Border Co-operation, INOGATE, TRACECA; Thematic Budget lines, suchas Invest in People, Environment and EIDHR; and Inter-regional

programmes and instruments, such as Neighbourhood Invest-ment Facility, Tempus, Erasmus Mundus, Sigma.15 The European Parliament http://www.europarl.eu-ropa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?language=EN&reference=A7-0300/2010#title1

In relation to that, it is revealing that, whilecompleting a IDIS Viitorul questionnaire dis-tributed among different ministries, civil serv-ants named the absence of proper motivationand unclear requirements as main obstacles tofullling their duties related to European In-tegration. In the same questionnaire, amongobstacles at the level of EU related programsdevelopment, they indicated the absence oftrained professionals, problems with fundingand inefficient inter- and intradepartmentalcoordination. Hence, search for a more activeinvolvement in the EU programs and institu-

tions should be coupled with a careful assess-ment that will ensure a progressive increase ofleverage, as opposed to the possibility of los-ing pace due to high initial costs of certain re-forms. e latter is usually associated with theinvolvement in too ambitious and costly re-forms, without a proper assessment of the con-sequences for the country. A careful assessment

and progress on reforms will not only promptthe EU to get more involved, but will at leastoffer the benet of development up to the levelof a modern state, comparable to the level ofde facto EU members. Even in absence of clearbenets of the EU membership, no effort willbe lost, since the benet of a well function-ing state outside the EU is a more desirableoutcome than a problematic EU membershipor passive waiting until EU internal politicaldialogue will allow for thede-jure acceptanceof membership perspectives. e example ofSwitzerland, which, while not an EU member,is a prosperous modern state with a fruitful re-lationship with the EU, as opposed to Greece,in its current budgetary agony, might serveas an example to the idea above. e last state-

ment does not imply distracting Moldovafrom its goal of EU membership or denying


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the importance of EU integration, but rathersuggests to increase exibility, while acceptingmore responsibility for the internal reforms.

EU policies towards Moldova

ere are several documents that deneEU policies towards Moldova and are used toshape internal policy regarding EU integra-tion. e ENP, made instrumental throughENPI, is currently the most signicant policydocument. It has a rather broad scope in terms

of envisaged geographic areas and types ofactions. e overall allocation for the ENPI,managed by DG EuropeAid, is almost 12billion for the period of 2007-2013, withabout 90% projected to be used for bilateralactions, i.e. country-specic initiatives and re-gional actions involving two or more partnercountries. e remaining 10% are reservedfor specic new areas of joint activity, namelycross-border co-operation (CBC), and specicinitiatives like the Neighbourhood InvestmentFacility (NIF). e CBC component is an in-novative one, under which the ENPI nances joint programmes, bringing together regionsof Member States and partner countries shar-ing a common border. Moldova participatesalso in EU Regional Development Policy 16 through a leading role in the EU Danube Re-gion Strategy and the recently launched theREGIONAL EAST PROGRAMME STRAT-EGY PAPER 2010-2013 and the INDICA-TIVE PROGRAMME 2010-2013, apart fromthe Black Sea synergy program. Also, the ENPIincludes three instruments, known as Twin-

16 EU Regional Development Policy http://www.enpi-info.eu/maineast.php?id=24018&id_type=1&lang_id=450

ning 17, TAEX 18 and SIGMA 19, that have thegoal of modernising the institutions of neigh-bouring countries and were elaborated as partof the accession process of candidate countries.

is number of instruments demonstrates anincreasing openness of the EU and sustainsthe possibility for Moldova to advance withalready existing means, conditional on the in-ternal political determination to implementeconomic reforms.

Above mentioned instruments aim at theobjectives agreed through a number of strate-gic papers. European Neighbourhood Policy

Strategy Paper20

, along with the detailed ENPCountry Report for Moldova 21, provided guid-ance for the preparation of joint action plans(ENP AP) and served as a baseline for the an-nual Progress Reports on the implementationof the European Neighbourhood Policy. Cur-rently, an EC Country Strategy Paper (CSP)2007-2013 for the Republic of Moldova and

a National Indicative Programme (NIP) for2011-2013 (that succeeded the 2007-2010),dene in greater detail the focus of operationsunder the national envelope of the new ENPI.Fig.1.2 presents data for the EU nancingthrough micro-nancial assistance (MFA) andNational Indicative Programmes (NIP), divid-ed also by yearly National Action Plans budg-ets. All of the above mentioned documentswere intended as a guide for the planning andproject identication processes through de-nition of a limited number of priority areas,together with the objectives and results to beachieved22. Assistance provided to Moldova17 Twining http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/where/neighbourho-od/overview/twinning_en.htm18 TAIEX http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/where/neighbourho-od/overview/taiex_en.htm19 SIGMA http://www.sigmaweb.org/pages/0,2987,

en_33638100_33638151_1_1_1_1_1,00.html20 Full text available here http://ec.europa.eu/world/enp/pdf/strategy/strategy_paper_en.pdf 21 Full text available here http://ec.europa.eu/world/enp/pdf/country/moldova_enp_country_report_2004_en.pdf 22 All relevant documents can be seen on : http://ec.europa.


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under the NIP focuses on three priority areas:a) Democratic Development and Good Gov-ernance, b) Regulatory Reform and Admin-istrative Capacities Building, and c) Supportfor Poverty Reduction and Economic Growth.

us, poverty, weakness of democratic institu-tions and low absorption capacity should becarefully considered in parallel to the effortsof further engagement in EU integration.

ese topics will remain in the focus of theEastern Partnership Initiative, given that cur-rently Moldova is a desired front runner ofthe EPP. is regional platform is specically

designed as an institutionalised forum for dis-cussing visa agreements, free trade deals andstrategic partnership agreements with the EU'seastern neighbours, while avoiding the con-troversial topic of accession to the EuropeanUnion. It appears that Poland and Sweden,that are major advocates of the EPP, also seeinternal reforms as primary to the membership

perspectives.

Fig.1.2 State Chancellery data. EU funds,mln. EUR.

is increasing openness of the EU to-wards Moldova will inevitably increase thenumber of policies, strategies and, consequent-ly, programs and projects that should becomepart of the Moldova's internal agenda. In linewith the currently negotiated AA that modern-

ises the legal framework, most notable chang-es are expected in the area of the negotiatedeu/world/enp/documents_en.htm#1

DCFTA and visa liberalisation agreement. De-spite obvious gains, there are also possible haz-ards that need to be carefully considered andavoided. e absorption capacity of the Gov-ernment is already limited, with th EU con-tinuously implementing projects through in-ternational NGOs, UN agencies or project im-plementation units, instead of the governmentstructures. Such a capacity substitution is notsustainable, while future costs will further in-crease pressure on the governments capacities.Independent reports estimate the costs, in caseof DCFTA 23 and other parts of the acquis,

to be punishingly high for poor economies,recommending that the EU Commission carryout a systematic cost-benets analysis, sketch-ing low-cost applications, whenever the costsare too high for the poor neighbours. Moldovawould greatly benet from conducting suchcost benet evaluation of own costs of adjust-ments to the acquis. An increasing pressure

on state institutions will reveal hidden vulner-ability of the governance structure in terms ofabsorption capacity and management capabil-ity. Apart from different drawbacks character-istic to each sector ministry, a general weak-ness in the coordination capacity is prevalent.Moldova should capitalise on existing experi-ence of new EU member states that also re-port difficulties in horizontal coordination oftheEU related reforms (e.g. Poland, Romania,Bulgaria, etc.)

EU Integration on internalagenda

On the level of political rhetoric, EU In-

tegration has become a major goal of all major23 CEPS Neighbourhood Watch Issue 71, May 2011, Centrefor European Policy Studies (CepS) http://www.ceps.eu/system/

les/simplenews/2011/05/NWatch71.pdf


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to press more on European Integration as aninternal process. e MFAEI in that case re-mained with a function of maintaining thepolitical dialogue between Moldova and EUInstitutions, as well as the EU member states.Nevertheless, the delay since the PCA signingin 1998 could not be compensated with justone last effort. Most of the observers both in-ternally, NGOs and think-tanks, and external-ly, noted an absence of real progress in terms ofnalised reforms and clear results, qualifyingthe above mentioned measures as being moredeclarative in nature and not reaching deep.

Slow progress on most of the chapters of theEU Moldova Action Plan and notorious de-ciencies in the area of democracy, media, andhuman rights, as well as lack of reforms of thelaw enforcement bodies made the EU safe-guard its non-intervention in internal politi-cal affairs and postpone negotiations regardingthe AA until the post-election period. e fact

that, closer to the elections, the Secretariat wasmoved again under the umbrella of the MFAEIsupports the impression that the institutionalchanges in 2008 were mainly motivated notso much by the need to implement Europeanintegration goals internally, but rather by theneed to obtain political dividends before theelections by securing more engagement on theEUs side.

e current political setting is deter-mined by the results of 2009 elections that re-sulted in the Alliance for European Integrationcoming to power, with a consequent accelera-tion of the EU integration reforms. Accompa-nied by multiple EU officials visits to Moldo-

va 27, the process of EU integration was cred-ited by signicant external support. Despitepolitical deadlock in electing the president andnalising the political transition to new gov-ernment for most of 2009, 2010 and half of2011, this period was remarkable in terms ofamelioration of bilateral relationships betweenthe EU and Moldova. Special EU high-leveladvisers have been appointed to most of theministries with a specic task to share the EUexpertise in selected areas. Certain progresseswere achieved with regard to the Compre-hensive Institution Building Programme and

legislative process, as well as Human Rightsand freedom of speech. Still, similarly to therelationship with the previous government,the EU expects clear results and thorough re-forms inside the country. In his most recentmeeting in June with the Prime Minister ofMoldova, the Commissioner for Enlarge-ment and ENP reiterated that for Moldova

to consolidate its democratic development theabsolute priorities must be: the ght againstcorruption, the reform of the judicial and lawenforcement systems, comprehensive anti-dis-crimination legislation, improvement of theinvestment climate, and the more technicalreforms (such as competition policy or sani-tary and phytosanitary standards) needed toenter negotiations on a deep and comprehen-sive free trade area. e fact that these areasappear already several years in reports as themost problematic areas leads one to believethat objectives related to European Integrationstill have difficulties getting from the level ofpolitical rhetoric to the core of government

27 Since November 2009, there have been ve visits of EUcommissioners, compared to a total of four such visits since thecreation of the independent Republic of Moldova. In the last twomonths alone there have been sixteen high-level missions toMoldova, something which Head of EU Delegation to Moldovadescribed as "unprecedented." http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=eu-satisfied-with-intensified-relationship-with-moldova-2010-10-29


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objectives. It seems that political actors receiveenough political dividends from mere pro-EUrhetoric and there is no much urge in actualreforms implementations. Although difficultto achieve, the advancement on the agenda ofEuropean Integration, similarly to the reformsrelated to the functioning free market econo-my, would be greatly benecial, if untied frompolitical competition and advanced throughan inter-political agreement. e existing EU Moldova indicative plan, the already nego-tiated AA chapters, as well as the areas thatdid not get enough attention during previous

years, should serve as a goal setting frameworkfor further efforts, promoted through an inter-political national agreement.

Communication

Communication strategy related to theprocess of European integration was adoptedin early 2008. is is just one of the efforts,apart from multiple other projects in the areaof information dissemination implementedby local and international NGOs, along withspecic measures of the EU delegation in thecountry. Nonetheless, the recent IDIS Vii-torul survey among local public authoritiesand civil servants revealed a continuous need

for information, both at the general level aswell as at the more specic level of project im-plementation. Despite the successes in exter-nal communication throughout 2009-2010,there is a serious need to update the strategyto the changes since 2008, at the same timemaking it more consistent in addressing dif-ferent aspects of currently changing environ-

ment, both in terms of the newly negotiated AA agreement and reforms within the EU.e communication should avoid propagan-

da type of information, concentrating insteadon the functions of expectations managementand targeted information dissemination. Apartfrom a detailed action plan a more targetedapproach to different groups of populationswith specic budget commitments is neces-sary. Currently, the Moldovan government hasa rather limited capacity both in assessing thecost of EU integration and in shaping the EUintegration process through communicationdue to budgetary constraints. Nevertheless, anefficient communication is capable to seriouslydiminish the costs of reforms internally. is

is especially true in case of long terms reformswith postponed benets and immediate costsor impacts on everyday life. e complexity ofthe EU integration process makes indispensa-ble the need of targeted communication, withspecic messages shaped for different groupsand specic needs. Also, on the part of theEU, it is essential to communicate the con-

crete results of the money spent. Finally, apartfrom communication with general public, theinformation ow to the civil servants shouldbe maintained at the most accessible level. Asthe information evolves rather rapidly and is ofa considerable amount, it will be advisable toestablish regular updates, while vesting the Eu-ropean Integration units within line ministrieswith the function of information gatekeepers.

Coordinating EuropeanIntegration

As already mentioned above, there is acertain rivalry of competencies regarding theleading institution for EU Integration. InMoldova, the MFAEI and the State Chancel-lery are too major institutions with coordi-


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nating mandates. is is not a unique situ-ation, if compared to other countries in theregion. Since 1998 the relationship with theEU evolved from a completely external com-petence to a situation when the implementa-tion of the EU Moldova Action Plan requiredinvolvement of a growing number of internalactors. Dynamics of relationship and divisionof competencies between the State Chancel-lery and the MFAEI is just one of the issuesthat needs to be addressed. Although the re-sponsibility for EU integration lies with theMFAEI, general policy and external aid coor-

dination responsibilities are part of the StateChancellerys mandate. e above mentionedinstitutions have a very weak linkage in termsof coordination and harmonisation of their ac-tions. Similar situation was also reported dur-ing the reforms in other countries. Experiencesof Romania, Hungary and Slovakia show thatthe European Integration has been the catalyst

for institutional adaptation, but the domesticstructural changes have been shaped not somuch by the Europeanization pressures, as bydomestic factors, such as governmental/coali-tion politics or bureaucratic politics. us, amore specic attention should be paid to thetransfer of the externally agreed EU agendainto domestic policy that will imply serious in-stitutional changes. Following the above-men-tioned examples of other EU candidate coun-tries, different institutional settings worked aslong as the political elite addressed the matterof creation of a specialised centre for EU In-tegration. It can be either a separate ministryof EU integration or a specialised departmentwithin State Chancellery or MFAEI, but it hasto cover both internal and external aspects.

e concrete setting is not essential as long asthe newly formed entity will be able to ensure

the required functional characteristics in termsof internal processes coordination and report-ing. Indeed, the creation of such an entity im-plies certain political and institutional costs,as it will certainly agglomerate certain power,and, hence, the process of its creation is seri-ously jeopardised by the competition amongthe institutions.

In Moldova's case, there are three pos-sibilities: either to consolidate MFAEI to thelevel of mega institution capable to coordinatethe internal efforts that will collide with theState Chancellerys functions of coordination;

to establish such an entity under the StateChancellery that will have a similar effect ofthe MFAEI giving up certain functions relatedto EU integration; nally, to set up a separateagency that will receive functions from both ofthe above mentioned entities. In Poland suchan institution was the Ministry of Regionaland Local development, which was fully re-

sponsible for the management of EU struc-tural funds. . In any case, the result should bebetter coordinated domestic policies reectedin fewer documents with an explicit harmo-nisation effort in the area of EU integration.Most important is the timing of creating suchan institution. e earlier creation of a coor-dinating institution will ensure that EU inte-gration becomes a truly internal process. isentity can take over not only the coordinationpart, but also the analytical and planning part.

The quality of the policydocuments

Currently the European Integration pol-icy in Moldova is based on two main pillars: (i)implementation of the Moldova EU Action


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Plan, now Indicative Program and (ii) usingthe possibilities of the Republic of Moldovastemming from the participation in all the re-gional initiatives of the South Eastern Europe 28. However, the experts report that EuropeanIntegration was and still is feebly incorpo-rated in national policies, being treated as atotally separate process, with its own system,mechanism and documents, without clearconnection with general policy coordinationmechanisms29. State Chancellery is notoriousdue to its key role in coordinating an essentialnumber of government planning documents

that have a weak uniformity with each other.Multiple policy documents that often overlapand do not provide a consistent hierarchy ofpriorities are negatively enforced by poor for-mulation of objectives, results and indicatorsthat denote modest planning, monitoring andevaluating capacity 30. e latter is a result ofmodest skills in result-based management and

evidence-based policy making among civilservants31. As there exists a multitude of docu-ments with no clear prioritisation, all servingas a basis for budget requests, the elaborationof the budget and commitments of funds be-come problematic. All this indeed becomeseven more evident during reporting periods,especially since multiple reporting is made inparallel for different types of policy papers32.Currently, it is estimated that policy unitsspend 80 to 85% of their time on reportinginstead of policy formulation33. e gap be-tween existing and needed reporting problemscan be best presented by showing the reportingprocess on the Moldova- EU Action Plan in28 The Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe, the SouthEastern European Cooperation Process (SEECP) and the sub-sequently amended Central European Free Trade Agreement(CEFTA)29 Ibid.30 Ibid.31 Ibid.32 Ibid.33 Ibid.

the end of 2008 - beginning of 2009, whichrequired twice as many external consultantsas the civil servants involved. In order to en-sure a proper reporting, besides a secretariatunit composed of three people engaged as civilservants, there was a team of 6 external expertsrecruited for a period of 6 months with an ex-ternal nancing. e required amount of workinvolved also the reporting efforts of civil serv-ants within each line ministry working on Eu-ropean integration and/or policy M&E Units. Already now there are efforts to improve thequality of public policy documents. e intro-

duction of evidence-based policymaking andex-ante methodology is just one of the mostpromising measures. Nonetheless, further in-tensication of the EU Moldova relationshipwill inevitably increase both the amount ofwork and qualitative reporting requirements.

us, more specic attention should be paidto the capacity building in the area of consist-

ent and constant planning, monitoring andevaluation, based on the practice of results-based management compatible with EU meth-odological requirements.

In light of methodology adjustments, itis worth mentioning that reforms in Moldovaare often guided by different donors and, corre-spondingly, different methodologies. e mostvisible stakeholders are the World Bank, theIMF, the UN agencies, apart from the EU, asthe biggest donors, without mentioning mul-tiple bilateral donors. Currently, the process ofimplementation of different methodologies isfragmented with only incipient attempts onthe part of donors to coordinate some of theefforts. e harmonisation is mostly orientedtowards reducing the overlaps in addressing

similar sectors with much less emphasis on ap-plying a compatible methodology. Often this


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results in the progresses in different areas beingguided by funds and methodology of a givendonor. Most critical area in terms of methodo-logical reforms is the National Statistical Bu-reau. In the view of the EU integration vectorof development, all methodologies should bechecked for compatibility with the EU systemin rst place. Also, the EU should take thelead in coordinating other donors' efforts inthe country, especially in terms of institution-al building and methodology transfer. Also,both state institutions and other stakehold-ers, including think-tanks and NGOs, should

be trained in public policy cycle and analysis,result based management and evidence basedpolicy making in order to ensure the partici-patory process and system of checks and bal-ances to the state actors. One of the methodsto improve the authorities performance is byfacilitating the institutional learning processthrough the possibility to observe the func-

tioning of the institutions inside the EU andEU member states. Extrapolating this practicebeyond Central Public Authorities (CPA) to-ward Local Public Authorities and civil societyorganisations will greatly enhance the experi-ence exchange and learning curve for the wholesociety. Attention should be paid to pre- andpost-event assessment, in order to avoid civilservant absence from the office that does notresult in clear benets of knowledge transfer.

More Reforms for acceleratedEuropean Integration.

Apart from a specic institutional re-form for each ministry, a separate effort should

inevitably address existing European Integra-tion Units (EIU) in all ministries. Although

their mandate is to coordinate EU relatedcommitments and measures, at this point,these units have different fates depending ofthe institution. Often these are integrated withthe units of Policy Analysis and Monitoring orExternal Relation. As EU integration becomesincreasingly a domestic priority, European in-tegration units should be set up within eachministry structure in order to avoid overlap-ping and provide necessary support to EU re-forms. A streamlining of the mandate and astandardization of practices among the CPAwith regards to the European integration units

is advisable, as currently there is a variety ofinstitutional settings. e experience of otherEU and ENP states might be very useful inthis regard. It is clear that the EIUs should bepart of the CPA consolidation process in thearea of communication, policy making, moni-toring and evaluation and strategic planning,both at the level of specic line ministry and

central EU integration authority.e law making process and law harmo-nisation is also an important area of EU inte-gration. For now, most important in this areais the establishment of the law enforcementmechanisms and rendering them functional.

e Country Strategy paper 2007-201334 men-tions that due to a narrow focus on legislationreview and law drafting process, the improve-ments of the national legislative frameworkdid not bring the necessary changes because ofthe absence of adequate law making and lawenforcement mechanisms. Current efforts inreforming the Ministry of Internal Affairs is arst probing stone in institutional modernisa-tion of legislative institutions pushed by theneeds of liberalized visa regime with the Euro-

pean Union. However, the issues of corruption34 The Country Strategy paper 2007-2013 full text here. http://ec.europa.eu/world/enp/pdf/country/enpi_csp_moldova_en.pdf


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and institutional inefficiency are characteristicfor most law enforcement institutions in thecountry 35. Hence, Moldova should maintainthe efforts in law harmonization while improv-ing law enforcement mechanisms and ghtingcorruption.

e authorities attitude towards Europe-an integration is mainly dictated by the politicalpotential, nevertheless, the expectation of theaccessibility of EU accession should not sub-stitute the reforms the country needs in orderto nalise the economic and social transition.Currently, the country still has not attained

the level of its economic and social potentialbefore the beginning of transition in late 80s.Both socio-economic transition and EuropeanIntegration are difficult processes of balancinggains against the costs. Involvement of all so-cietal stakeholders can safeguard progress to-wards EU integration while diminishing highsocial costs and known pitfalls. Such pitfalls

might include further migration of qualiedand non-qualied workforce, threats of dis-appearance of small and medium enterprisesand local producers due to low competitive-ness as compared to foreign companies, lowForeign Direct Investment, comparing to theneighbour states, due to unattractive invest-ment climate and an increased decit of com-mercial balance. e population involvementbeyond simple information will help avoidingthe perception that EU integration is a pana-cea to all problems without progresses madeat the country level by all actors in the areaof socio-economic transition. ere should bea common understanding that without cer-tain domestic policies in place, there can beno engaging in EU specic reforms. A non

exhaustive list will include reduction of thestate bureaucracy, elimination of the corrup-35 Ibid.

tion and functioning of the free market. epath of reforms should be designed in a clearstrategy where easily achieved changes can fuellong term reforms and diminish integrationcosts for the society. Additionally, as both theamount of funds and internal capacity is lim-ited, it is desirable to have a clearer prioritisa-tion regarding funds distribution, along witha proper monitoring and evaluation system inplace, based on national statistical system as aunied supplier of data.

Conclusions Currently Moldovas authorities have

limited capacities to participate in EUprograms and initiatives in terms ofavailable nances, knowledge of applica-tion requirements and result implemen-tation. Moreover, current capacity of theCPA, with respect to the evidence-based

policy analysis, is limited. Hence, on oneside, due to limited resources, Moldovaneeds a careful impact analysis for all EUrelated reforms, while on the other one,there is a limited capacity for this type ofanalysis that needs to be increased.

Progresses on the AA and other EUMoldova negotiations are still feebly re-ected in the internal agenda. Moldovashould accelerate internal reforms in amove pre-emptive to the nalisation of AA negotiation.

e difficulties in progresses of post-Soviet transition have shown a high de-pendency of any reform on political ac-

tors. Since EU integration is accepted asa priority by all political actors, an inter-nal inter-political agreement that might


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guarantee further advancements onEU Integration and economic reformsshould ensure a technocratic approachand accelerate EU related reforms. eexisting EU Moldova indicative planand already negotiated AA chaptersshould serve as primary priority settingdocuments.

e government should adjust existingCommunication strategy launched in2008 to the latest changes, e.g. newlynegotiated AA agreement and changes

within the EU. e internal communi-cation should avoid propaganda typeof information, concentrating insteadon the functions of expectations man-agement and targeted information dis-semination. An efficient communicationwould greatly increase the path of thereforms, making the process of transfor-mation smoother and diminishing inte-gration costs for the society.

Current institutional structure of theGovernment is not fully adapted to thetransfer of the externally agreed EUagenda into domestic policies. Earlycreation of a coordinating institution re-sponsible for the EU reforms internally

should ensure that EU integration be-comes a truly internal process and thecoordination is supplemented with spe-cialised analytical and planning work.In this context, the design of EuropeanIntegration Units within line ministries

needs to be reformed as they are ratherlimited and not always directly linkedto the EU reforms. e functioning ofthese units should have a more directrole in facilitation of the EU related re-forms for the host ministry in the areasof EU related communication, policymaking, M&E and planning, also beinginstrumental for the functioning of thecentral EU coordination authority.

Existing framework of different strate-gic and planning documents create dif-

culties in allocation of funds from thebudget due to unclear prioritisationwith an additional pressure due to mul-tiple reporting requests. Developmentof EU Moldova relationship will fur-ther increase requirements for planning,M&E and reporting. ese areas shouldbe further strengthened, also ensuringthe compatibility with the EU systems.Other stakeholders (e.g. NGOs, think-tanks, representatives of civil society andacademia) should be also trained in or-der to ensure the civil societys participa-tion and control.

Despite frequently reported modernlaws, the law enforcing mechanisms are

still lagging behind. Efforts in the areasof harmonization of law with the EUacquis should be coupled with law en-forcement mechanisms and a higher in-volvement of the Parliament in ensuringcontrol of the implementation process.


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Regional Development Agencies

Many governmental actions, even whengovernments themselves are unaware of it,have a lasting impact at local and regional lev-els. In many countries local and regional de-velopment issues received an institutionalisedand multi-annual programming prole whengovernments acknowledged that past policieshad failed to signicantly reduce regional dis-parities. In the second half of the last centurythe most developed European countries had

a regional development element of economicpolicy. eir example proved that a coherent,credible regional development policy, welladapted to the special features of the region,may be promoted in the best way neither bythe central government, nor by individual lo-cal governments.

As emphasized in the Communication

on the Eastern Partnership of December 2008,Some partners have structural problems stem-ming from sharp economic and social dis-parities between their regions and populationgroups, which are often divided by histori-cal, cultural, ethnic and religious differences. All of them also seek economic convergencewith the EU.36 e document also outlines aseries of measures to be undertaken in orderto overcome the above-mentioned problems,36 Communication from the Commission to the European Parli-ament and the Council on Eastern Partnership, COM(2008)823,Brussels, 3.12.2008.

namely:(1) Memoranda of Understanding onregional policy with partner countries;(2) pilotregional development programmes;(3) directco-operation between the regions of the EUand of the partner countries; and, (4) extend-ing ENPI-funded cross-border co-operation,currently implemented at the external bordersof the EU. e most of these measures are cur-rently being implemented and the rst EU-funded regional development project will startin 2012. An effective implementation of thesemeasures requires an institutional frameworkand administrative capacity, whereby clear

tasks and responsibilities of all involved bodiesand institutions are dened.

Due to strong legalistic traditions andadministrative culture in Moldova, develop-ment planning at subnational levels was longentrenched within limits of rayons and ruralmayoralties, which proved to be too small toprovide regional scale economies in public

services provision and effectiveness of publicfunding. erefore, the need for innovativeregional development strategies in Moldovanregions was high. After long debates, the issuewas rst addressed in December 2006, whena new Law on Regional Development wasadopted. Six development regions were creat-ed (Centre, North, South, Chisinau, Gagauziaand Transnistria) which would presumablyclassify under the EU NUTS37 II and III lev-37 NUTS The Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statis-tics is a hierarchical system of territorial statistics managed byEurostat for the purpose of collection, development and harmo-

CHAPTER 2. TRANSPOSING POLICIES AT REGIONAL

AND LOCAL LEVELIon Osoian


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els. e regional development institutions,however, have not been created until after theGovernment of the Alliance for European In-tegration took office in September 2009. iswas the most appropriate time for addressingthese issues in a wider, international context,as Moldovas immediate neighbour the Euro-pean Union - is actively considering extendingits territorial cohesion policies towards neigh-bouring regions, in order to achieve inclusivewelfare and therefore stability alongside theEU external borders.

The establishment of the institutional

framework on regional development whichwas finalised by the beginning of 2010 isquite similar to the one operating in the EUmember states. Thus, a National Coordinat-ing Council for Regional Development (NC-CRD) was created, aiming mainly at increas-ing the coordination of sector policies. Also,for the first time, the managing and imple-

mentation authority of the RD policy theMinistry of Regional Development and Con-struction (MRDC) received a higher pro-file, both in terms of staffing and funding(the National Fund for Regional Develop-ment (NFRD) comprising up to 1% of rev-enues to the state budget).

At the regional level, Regional Develop-ment Councils (RDCs) with public and pri-vate membership have been created, acting asdecision-making bodies and providing a linkbetween regional priorities and the nationalregional development planning framework. Also, Regional Development Agencies (RDAs)have been established in three developmentregions (Centre, North and South), as execu-tive structures for the implementation of re-

gional development strategies (RDSs). As a

nisation of EU regional statistics and targeting of EU regionalpolicies.

result, Moldova became the only country fromthe post-soviet space (Baltic States aside) andfrom the Eastern Partnership group of coun-tries (EaP638) which has operational RegionalDevelopment Agencies moulded on the EUexperience.

RDAs exist all over the world, almoston all continents. ere is almost no countrywith a successful regional development policywithout having functional RDAs (or whatevername they have in different countries) actingas quasi-independent institutions at regionallevel. Across Europe, RDAs have become a

central feature of regional policy, both as in-novative policy-makers and as the implement-ers of programmes and initiatives originatingfrom the national or European level. Withoutwell-functioning RDAs it would be difficult toimagine public policies that could make a dif-ference for regional development in Europeanregions.

According to the denition givenby the European Association of RegionalDevelopment Agencies (EURADA), an RDAis an operational structure that identies sec-toral or overall development problems, choos-es a range of opportunities or methodologiesfor their solution and promotes projects whichcan maximize the solutions to the problems.39

From a comparative perspective RDAscan be classied according to their origins andtheir activities. In accordance with the rstclassication criterion, RDAs can be:

established by the central government; existing inside local and regional au-

thorities; established by the local and regional au-

thorities;38 Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukrai-ne.39 The European Association of Development Agencies, Cre-ation, Development and Management of RDAs: Does it have tobe so dif cult?, Brussels, 1999


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policy networks. However, as the experienceof the new EU member states shows, the me-dium term goal of the Government should beto achieve a greater decentralisation and au-tonomy of the RDAs, so that they become in-dependent bodies.

RDAs must be governed by both publicand private law or similar provisions and theyshould try to provide services and projects thatthey are actually able to deliver. One of theways to destroy a new RDA is for the staff todiscuss and stay focused on very large projectsthat depend too much on national or donor

interests, forgetting the smaller scale concreteactions or projects that are easier to implementand provide the knowledge necessary for fur-ther institutional capacity development.

If classied by their tasks, RDAs couldbe:

strategic agencies; global operational agencies;

sectoral operational agencies; agencies for investments attraction.e newly established RDAs in Moldova

would fall into the rst category, while in EUpractices RDAs represent mostly a combina-tion of the above listed tasks. A new agencycomprises a technical team which is going todo something that is presumably not yet doneby any pre-existing structures. at could wellbe the only way to get respect from the po-litical and institutional powers acting withina region. e concept of RDAs in Moldovawas not to diminish the role of other institu-tions and organisations or private initiativesthat had been active in the region before theagencies were established. erefore, an im-portant role and responsibility of the agency is

supporting regional actors (local governments,SMEs, NGOs and other institutions) in build-

ing their capacities targeted to regional devel-opment and to build the network of expertisenecessary for the implementation of regionalprojects and programmes.

One of the most signicant functionsof RDAs, in general, is to enable endogenousdevelopment of regions through collaborativeefforts of local and regional actors. In otherwords, the three fundamental tasks of a RDAare to: (1) design the strategy; (2) mobilisethe regional actors around the strategy; and,(3) promote and facilitate the preparation ofprojects by assisting the regional actors and

by facilitating the discussion between them.Obviously, these tasks cannot be effectivelyfullled if the agency is not involved in thedesign phase of RD projects and programmes.It has to be noted that an RD project meansan initiative that has to mobilise efforts of twoand more regional actors (say, several rayonsor local communities), which is an activity for

which there is no tradition in Moldova. It alsoimplies legal, institutional and communica-tion issues that are not always easy to tackleby weak and fragmented local governments. Inthis case, the RDA acts as a natural partnershippromoter, as this is an activity that is extremelynecessary, but which was not previously car-ried out by any of the existing local or regionalinstitutions.

e 2010 experience shows that, to someextent, the RDAs activities followed the abovementioned concept. us, the Agencies estab-lished a good working environment where lo-cal governments (both rayons and rural andurban mayoralties) co-operate with each otherin a fashion that was not previously a commonpractice in Moldova. is happened either

in dening regional objectives and priorities(within the RDCs) or building partnerships


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for developing common project proposals (putforward by several rayons or municipalities).

is triggered the rst examples of inter-mu-nicipal co-operation, seeking scale economiesand externalities (spillover effect) in provi-sion of public services. is practice is one ofthe best medium-term solutions to Moldovasfragmented administrative-territorial system,where weak local governments would natu-rally have to combine their scarce resources toachieve efficiency in public services delivery.

Assigning regional policy formulation,management and implementation to the

MRDC has both strengths and weaknesses.In developed countries the emphasis of RDinterventions is often on soft measures (suchas skills development, promoting business ef-ciency, attracting inward investments, en-hancing competitiveness etc.). is emphasisis due to the high level of physical infrastruc-ture development. In transition countries,

usually a strategic balance has to be ensuredbetween investments in infrastructure and insoft measures, as investors are understandablyless willing to come in areas with poorly devel-oped infrastructure. e MRDC is responsiblefor coordinating a great deal of infrastructureinvestments, which bring efficiency into theregional development policy implementationprocess. e main weakness of the MRDCseems to be the fact that being mainly a techni-cal ministry, it does not have a strong traditionof policy development and was not previouslyinvolved to any great extent in policy coordi-nation frameworks (such as inter-ministerialpolicy coordination committees). Developingpolicy formulation and coordination capaci-ties is quite important as the MRDC has to de-

velop national level regional development stra-tegic planning documents, while coordinating

them with other ministries and governmentalagencies, and to present them for approval tothe NCCRD, for which it performs secretariatfunctions. As far the RDAs role in regionalprivate sector development is concerned, asshown in Table 2.1, the experience of 2010 at-tested a low prole of regional initiatives thatpromote the private sector in the regions.

Table 2.1 Number of project proposals sub-mitted to RDAs in 2010, by priority

PriorityNumber of projectssubmitted to RDAs

Total

Centre North SouthPhysicalinfrastructure

26 16 18 60

Private sectordevelopment

2 9 2 13

Environment andtourism

17 11 9 37

Total 45 36 29 110

Note: for Centre RDA, only those projects that passed the administrative check were included

Source: RDAs websites: www.adrcentru.md,www.adrnord.md, www.adrsud.md

ese outcomes are mostly related to thespecics of the 2010 call for proposals. First,the newly created RDAs became operationalonly by the beginning of March 2010 andwhen the rst call for proposals was launched(May 2010) there was not enough time to es-tablish proper partnership and coordinationwith actors that contribute to private sectordevelopment (mainly, the SME DevelopmentOrganisation, which has an institutional sta-tus similar to RDAs and was created by theMinistry of Economy). Second, local govern-ments, which are the main RDAs partnersin the development regions, cannot do muchabout SMEs development in the areas of their jurisdiction because they have limited com-


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petencies and certain restrictions in terms ofavailable tools to foster local economic devel-opment.

Overall, in Moldova the capacity of theregional level to tackle the priorities stem-ming from the European integration processis more advanced than in any other EasternPartnership country or even countries cov-ered by the European Neighbourhood Policy.However, further efforts have to be put to-wards better accountability and transparencyin RDAs activity.

Local Governments

Moldova has a highly fragmented sys-tem of local government which consists ofabout 900 municipalities, out of which 88%have fewer than 5000 inhabitants. e secondtier comprises 32 rayons (districts) which are

also small, compared to the EU average. ecapacity of local governments to undertaketasks related to European integration are sig-nicantly undermined by the very low levelsof scal and nancial decentralisation and bya tremendous concentration of economic ac-tivity in the capital city. As the vast majorityof local governments have limited nancialresources and weak powers to boost the localeconomic development, one important sourcefor supporting development at local levels isprojects supported by donors, the EU beingthe largest one among them. e problems oflocal governments capacities and needs are ofgreat concern as currently most of the donorsare trying to achieve a fair balance in their de-velopment interventions between the local andcentral levels of governance.

Table 2.2 Average size of municipalities inthe EU member states + Moldova in 2009(inhabitants)United Kingdom 151,110Denmark 56,040Lithuania 55,965Ireland 38,975Netherlands 37,280Portugal 34,485Sweden 31,790Bulgaria 29,015Latvia 19,205Belgium 18,180Poland 15,380Finland 15,265Greece 10,870Slovenia 9,630

Italy 7,395Romania 6,760Germany 6,655Malta 6,060Estonia 5,910Spain 5,620EU27 average 5,530Luxembourg 4,215

Austria 3,540Hungary 3,160Moldova 2,850Slovakia 1,870France 1,750Czech Republic 1,670Cyprus 1,510Source: Dexia, EU sub-national governments:2009/2010 edition and authors calculation

Te main factors that diminish Moldovanlocal governments capacity to contribute to theEuropean integration process are well outlined in

the Opinion of the EU Committee of the Regions(CoR).40 Tus, it notes that: that the lack ofsystematic, robust autonomous managementof local nances inevitably reduces local andregional authorities ability to take full respon-sibility for managing European funds, whichrequires adequate administrative and plan-ning capabilities and enough funds to cover40 Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on The imple-mentation of the European neighbourhood policy and in parti-cular the Eastern partnership initiative: modernisation, reformsand administrative capacity of the local and regional authoritiesof the Republic of Moldova (own- initiative opinion) (2011/C15/09), Of cial Journal of the European Union, 18.1.2011


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Table 2.4. What kind of projects do youconsider necessary to be implemented in your community?

Firstchoice

Secondchoice

Thirdchoice

1. Waters supply andsewage

71,1 18,4 10,5

2. Natural gas supply 32,3 38,7 293. Roadsrehabilitation/building

73,7 26,3

4. Environmental andterritory arrangementproblems

41,7 36,1 22,2

5. Wastemanagement

47,2 36,1 16,7

6. Reparation ofeducational buildings

40 37,1 22,9

7. Cultural activities 12,1 36,4 51,58. Citizensparticipation in solvingcommunitys problems

58,8 23,5 17,6

9. Creation of youthcentres

32,4 50 17,6

10. Establishment ofday care centres forelderly people

21,2 51,5 27,3

11. Modernisation ofthe agricultural sector

36,4 42,4 21,2

Source: survey carried out by authors with local

governments representatives

Another problem is the limited numberof staff available to local governments (rangingfrom 4 to 11 units, depending on the numberof residents in a municipality). As nancialresources are scarce, there is no doubt thathuman resources represent a key element for

the capacity of local governments to developproject proposals, as well as for their capacityto implement them. In most cases, the avail-able human resources have limited experiencein developing scale-efficient project proposals(i.e. in cooperation with other local govern-ments). Out of 39 mayors interviewed withinthis study only four stated that their mayoraltyhired an employee for the specic purpose ofdeveloping project proposals, while in nine cas-es an existing employee cumulates her/his daily

functions with this task (Table 2.5). Althoughmany local governments can employ extra-budgetary funds in order to hire staff workingon project proposals development and Europe-an integration issues, most cannot afford that.

Table 2.5. Who helps you to develop projectproposals?

No. %1. A civil servant employed

speci cally for this purpose 4 10.3

2. A civil servant who cumulatesthe function of projects proposalsdevelopment

9 23.1

3. A contracted consulting company 2 5.14. Active members of our

community (teachers etc.) 9 23.15. An international organisation

(donor) 4 10.3

6. We are cooperating with localNGOs 8 20.5

7. We are cooperating with nationalNGOs 2 5.1

8. We are cooperating withinternational NGOs 1 2.6

Total 39 100.0

Source: survey carried out by authors with local governments representatives

As the survey shows, there is little knowl-edge of English, which in most cases is the man-datory language for the project proposals andadditional documents (Table 2.7). is increasesthe time for development of a proposals and sig-nicantly diminishes their quality as local gov-ernments are not able to check the translation

provided by specialised agencies. As shown inTable 2.6, the lack of qualied staff, followed bylow levels of citizens participation are seen bylocal governments representatives as main ob-stacles in implementation of European projects. A similar survey conducted in Romania in over3000 settlements shows the direct link betweenexistence of human resources specialised in ap-

plying for the EU funds and the success rate infunding of submitted project proposals. 76% outof the total value of funding of projects approved


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for mayoralties was obtained by those local gov-ernments which have specialised staff.41

Table 2.6 What are the main obstacles in im-plementation of European projects (multi-

ple answers)% ofcases

1. The long period for their development 42.1%2. Bureaucracy 42.1%3. Lack of quali ed staff 84.2%4. Lack of initiative from the population 73.7%

Source: survey carried out by authors with local governments representatives

Table 2.7. How many employees of the may-oralty speak English at a satisfactory level?

No. %None 23 59.01-2 employees 10 25.63-4 employees 4 10.3Many 2 5.1Total 39 100.0

Source: survey carried out by authors withlocal governments representatives

e fragmentation problem equally ap-plies to the second tier of local government rayons. e available statistics show that small-er districts have higher (and thus less efficient)administrative expenditures per inhabitant.42 Some rayons have dedicated staff for projectsdevelopment, however a specially designedsection or directorate to be focused on theseissues is not provided in the framework regula-tion for the apparatus of the rayon chairperson.Most directorates in the rayon administrationare treated as subdivisions subordinated to therespective ministries. Almost all rayons havetheir own development strategies, approved bythe rayon councils, although no proper moni-

41 A. Toth, C. Drteanu, D. Tarnovschi, Local GovernmentsFace to Face with European Funds, Soros Foundation Roma-nia, Bucharest, 2010, p. 3742 I. Osoian, I. Srodoev, E. Veveri, V. Prohnichi, AnalyticalStudy on Optimal Administrative-Territorial Organisation of theRepublic of Moldova, Expert-Grup, Chiinu, 2010, p. 62

toring and evaluation process over their imple-mentation exists. Generally, rayon administra-tion has more of a representative role as theydo not provide any specic public services, asopposed to rst-level local governments. Al-though in some rayons there is signicant ca-pacity in the Directorate of Economy, it is notused to the fullest extent. e rayon adminis-tration has limited tools and competencies toattract investment. is is mostly due to a highconcentration of the economic activity, of thebest human resources and of most performinginfrastructure in Chisinau.

Intentions of implementing the decen-tralisation reform were announced in the Ac-tivity Program of the Alliance for EuropeanIntegrations Government. Most of the above-mentioned issues are addressed in the draft ofthe Decentralisation Strategy recently nalizedwith donors support. is is the main policydocument in the eld of local government re-

form which determines the national mecha-nisms on decentralisation and is based on theconcept outlined by the Law on administrativedecentralization approved in December 2006.

e priority actions of the draft Strategy, whichcould be approved by the end of 2011, reveala quite ambitious agenda of decentralization,while does not provide an explicit solution tothe sensitive problem of territorial consolida-tion.

Conclusions andrecommendations

With respect to regional developmentauthorities, besides continuing the effortsinvested in institutional capacity building,strengthening the accountability and transpar-ency component of their activity is another


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major priority. is could be achieved by aclear separation of RDAs management, moni-toring and control functions.

According to best practices used inPHARE programmes, such a separation isachieved by a thorough internal structural di-vision and a clear division of responsibilitiesamong institutions personnel. For example,the same employee cannot perform, at thesame time, several activities that have a poten-tial for generating conicts of interest. Such apractice would yet be quite difficult to achievein Moldovan RDAs, due to their limited staff

(although increased from 5 to 12 persons in2011) that often have to work simultaneouslyon several tasks. Another practice is applica-tion of the so called four eyes principle, ac-cording to which at least two persons have tosupervise an activity, approve or check a docu-ment, before it leaves the institution. In termsof internal division of responsibilities, the fol-

lowing measures could be considered: Separation of tendering from contract-ing activities;

Separation of payments authorisationfrom actual payments making;

Ensuring theex-ante control of opera-tions in tendering, contracting and im-plementation phases that should be car-ried out by specialised personnel whichis not involved in the controlled activi-ties.

One solution that would strengthentransparency and accountability in RDAs ac-tivity, that may become available once RDAsimportance grows, is establishment of a Boardof Directors that would oversee their activity.

In practice, the Board of Directors often com-

prises representatives of all, or at least the mostimportant shareholders or regional actors. Itis advisable that it includes RDCs members,including those that come from the private orNGOs sector, but also representatives of re-gional universities and other important region-al stakeholders. RDAs would have to report tothe board once per month and staff memberswould be invited to report on progress in dif-ferent areas. is solution would presumablymake RDCs to feel better involved and con-nected to RDAs activities, as RDCs currentlymeet once a quarter only.

Regarding local governments, as seenfrom the analysis, those municipalities whichalready have enough nancial and administra-tive capacities (i.e. are large enough to havebudgetary resources and qualied staff) aremost likely to be the main beneciaries of Eu-ropean integration efforts. ey are also morelikely to be able to submit successful project

proposals for EU funding. Although the rec-ommendations would clearly lie with strength-ening operational capacities of local govern-ments (staff training and expansion, simpli-cation of administrative procedures that mightcause delays in implementation of projects,provision of a greater access to informationwith respect to funding opportunities), thegreatest achievement would be implementa-tion of a comprehensive decentralization re-form. Amalgamation of smaller municipalitiesin larger ones, followed by providing morecompetencies to local governments and furtherscal decentralization will naturally strengthentheir capacities to foster local economic devel-opment and develop efficient partnership fortransposing European integration related poli-

cies at the local level.


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It is difficult to predict how the major-ity of current EU member states would have joined the EU without a positive and per-manent public support in encouraging theintegration process. e encouraging publicopinion may be of great importance for gov-ernments in their effort to accelerate the insti-tutional connection of their countries to theEuropean Union. Nevertheless, if negative,the public opinion can act as an inuentialopponent when confronted with discrepancies

between the perceived facts and the relatedpromises. After the nalization of the EU-RM Action Plan in 2008 and till this moment, theRepublic of Moldova has not managed to -nalise the negotiations with the EU regardingan Association Agreement. One of the objec-tives of this chapter is to assess the evolve-ment of attitudes, perceptions and concerns

of Moldovan population regarding the EU in-tegration process and to identify the changesthat occurred in the public opinion during thisperiod since 2008.

Information about the progress and ex-pected changes are the key words in the con-text of communication and cooperation be-tween public authorities and society. One canmention that especially during the last years,government institutions have been open tocooperation with the civil society, especially,

in terms of consulting structures, communica-tion strategies and consultative forums, whereinterested actors can participate. At the sametime, local authorities, being an importantlink between population and national authori-ties, were left outside this informative/con-sultative process and it is of great interest tomeasure their knowledge and capacity to com-ply with the EU requirements, when the timecomes. Consequently, an important objectiveof this report is to assess the attitudes of local

public authorities and of central institutionsin charge with European integration sectoralpolicies.

Having such an important role in theEU integration process,

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