Moldova Under the European Neighbourhood Policy: ‘Falling Between Stools’

Abstract

Since attaining independence in 1991, Moldova has experienced complex relationships with its neighbours, including Russia and the EU. Under the European Neighbourhood Policy, it has enjoyed successes and endured difficulties in its relationship with the EU, including various forms of co-operation – ranging from legal–institutional to cultural and geopolitical – based on the perception that the two polities form a boundary around which specific politics revolve. Public perceptions and the rhetoric and actions of the elite reveal two main features of EU–Moldovan relations: the lack of political will in Moldova and the lack of commitment on the part of the EU, which in conjunction fail to provide the necessary incentives for the process of reform and the prospects of European engagement for Moldova.

Notes

For further information regarding the project see its websites: <http://www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre/minisites/widereurope/index.html>, both accessed 6 July 2010 and <http://www.aber.ac.uk/interpol/en/research/EKPproject/index.htm>, accessed 10 April 2010.

Quo Vadis Moldova?, European Integration Studies Centre, Institute for Development and Social Initiatives ‘Viitorul’ (L'viv: Multi-V, 2007), p.63.

Valeriu Gheorghiu, Moldova – an Unwelcome Neighbour of the European Union, 2003, available at <http://www.ipp.md/public/biblioteca/en/>, accessed 10 March 2010.

Valeriu Gheorghiu, Moldova on the Way to the European Union: Distance Covered and Next Steps to be Done, 2005, available at <http://www.ipp.md/public/biblioteca/83/en/MoldovaWayEU.pdf>, accessed 15 March 2010.

This was the decade of the two important treaties: Maastricht in 1992 and Amsterdam in 1997; of establishing the Single European Act with its ‘four freedoms’: movement of goods, services, people and money (1993); subsequently of the Schengen Agreement (1995); of a new wave of enlargement (Austria, Finland and Sweden), in 1995; and of launching the euro as a single currency (1 Jan. 1999).

The ‘block approach’ envisages different methods for developing relations with various geographical groups of countries: the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) states; Central and Eastern European countries; and states of the former Soviet Union. There were heated debates in the past – for example, over where to include the Baltic states, which, unlike Moldova, did not join the ‘USSR-II club’ – the Commonwealth of Independent States. For further information see Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Estonia's Way into the European Union (Tallinn, 2009), available at <http://web-static.vm.ee/static/failid/052/Estonias_way_into_the_EU.pdf>, accessed 14 May 2010.

Gheorghiu, Moldova on the Way to the European Union.

For further information see <http://www.mfa.gov.md/politica-externa/psese-prezentare-generala>, official website <http://www.stabilitypact.org>, accessed 18 June 2010.

Sergiu Buscaneanu, ‘The Relations of Moldova with the EU: Achieved Progress, Encountered Problems and Future Prospects’, paper prepared in the framework of the project ‘Integration Perspectives and Synergic Effects of European Transformation in the Countries Targeted by EU Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policies’, April 2008. This is a research project of the Centre for EU Enlargement Studies at the Central European University, Budapest, focused upon the challenging task of providing a comprehensive analysis of the state of the transformation processes in neighbouring countries of the EU and also their relations with the EU. Systematic studies analyse the political and economic transformation that took place in these countries from 1990 until today, and the course of their relations with the EU. For further information see <http://web.ceu.hu/cens/otp.html>, accessed 20 Nov. 2010.

See the newspaper Moldova Suverană, 2005, No.51/20688, 29 March.

For further information on the two models of the EU's role in the neighbourhood – the ‘politics of exclusion’ and the ‘politics of inclusion’ – see Michael E. Smith, ‘The European Union and a Changing Europe: Establishing the Boundaries of Order’, Journal of Common Market Studies, Vol.34, No.1 (1996), pp.5–28.

For further information see <http://ec.europa.eu/world/enp/pdf/action_plans/moldova_enp_ap_final_en.pdf>, accessed 7 April 2010.

For further information see <http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/enlargement_process/accession_process/criteria/index_en.htm>, accessed 14 May 2010.

For further information see <http://www.delmda.ec.europa.eu/eu_and_moldova/index_en.shtml>, accessed 18 June 2010.

For further information see Graham Stack, ‘“Twitter Revolution”: Moldovan Activists Go into Hiding’, The Guardian, 15 April 2009, available at <http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/15/moldova-activist-hiding-protests>, accessed 14 June 2010.

For further information see <http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_Data/docs/pressdata/en/er/115215.pdf>, accessed 18 June 2010.

Oleg Serebrianu, Evaluarea starii actuale a procesului de integrare a Republicii Moldova în Uniunea Europeană [Evaluation of the present standing of the Republic of Moldova's integration process into the European Union] (2000), available at <http://www.ipp.md/libview.php?l=ro&idc=167&id=494>, accessed 10 March 2010.

For further information see <http://www.delmda.ec.europa.eu/eu_and_moldova/pdf/pca_moldova_en.pdf>, accessed 17 March 2010.

Sergiu Buscaneanu, ‘How Far Is the European Neighbourhood Policy a Substantial Offer for Moldova?’, paper prepared for a workshop in Leeds, Aug. 2006, p.24, available at <http://www.e-democracy.md/files/enp-moldova.pdf>, accessed 26 March 2010.

For further information see <http://ec.europa.eu/external_relations/moldova/csp/02_06_en.pdf>, accessed 16 March 2010.

The European Strategy of the Republic of Moldova, updated version, 2007, available at <http://www.ipp.md/biblioteca1.php?l=en&id=85>, accessed 11 Feb. 2010.

Ibid.

Valeriu Gheorghiu, EU–Moldova Action Plan: Negotiations and Implementation, 2005, <http://www.ipp.md/public/biblioteca/92/en/Yerevan272.doc>, accessed 10 March 2010.

Ibid., p.22.

Grzegorz Gromadzki, Raimundas Lopata and Kristi Raik, Friends or Family? Finnish, Lithuanian and Polish Perspectives on the EU's Policy towards Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova, FIIA report (Helsinki: Finnish Institute of International Affairs, 2005), p.14.

Judith Kelley, ‘New Wine in Old Wineskins: Promoting Political Reforms through the New European Neighbourhood Policy’, Journal of Common Market Studies, Vol.44, No.1 (2006), pp.29–55.

Marius Cremona, The European Neighbourhood Policy: Legal and Institutional Issues (Stanford, CA: Stanford Institute for International Studies, Stanford University, 2004), available at <http://iis-db.stanford.edu/pubs/20738/Cremona -ENP_and_the_Rule_of_Law.pdf>, accessed 10 June 2010; Roland Dannreuther, ‘Developing the Alternative to Enlargement: The European Neighbourhood Policy’, European Foreign Affairs Review, Vol.11, No.2 (2006), pp.183–201.

Kelley, ‘New Wine in Old Wineskins’, pp.31–4.

Sergiu Buscaneanu (ed.), Moldova and EU in the European Neighbourhood Policy Context: Implementation of the EU–Moldova Action Plan (Feb. 2005–Jan. 2008) (Chişinău: ADEPT, 2008), available at <http://www.e-democracy.md/en/publications/>, accessed 15 June 2010.

Smith, ‘The European Union and a Changing Europe’.

For further information see <http://www.delmda.ec.europa.eu/eu_and_moldova/pdf/080121%20ATP%20Regulation%20FINAL%20in%20the%20OJ%20-%20EN.pdf>, accessed 14 June 2010.

For further information see the European Commission's website at <http://ec.europa.eu/trade/creating-opportunities/bilateral-relations/countries/moldova>, accessed 10 May 2010.

At first, the border could be crossed carrying an international passport only; later a visa system was introduced. For further information see <http://Chişinău.mae.ro> and <http://www.boeckler.de/pdf/seer_2008_3_avram_mueller.pdf>, both accessed 14 June 2010.

The minor cross-border traffic agreement was signed, after lengthy negotiations, on 14 Nov. 2009 and came into effect on 26 Feb. 2010; in an exemption from the Schengen area regulations, it permits Moldovan and Romanian citizens living within 30 km of the border to visit the other country without an entry visa, on production of a passport and a permit.

Negotiations on visa-free travel between Moldova and the EU began on 15 June 2010; since 1 Jan. 2007, EU citizens (and citizens of certain other countries) have been allowed to enter Moldova without a visa for visits of up to 90 days.

Buscaneanu (ed.), Moldova and EU in the European Neighbourhood Policy Context; Valeriu Gheorghiu, Political Relations Between the Republic of Moldova and European Union, available at <http://www.ipp.md/libview.php?l=ro&idc=167&id=530>, accessed 15 March 2010.

The analysis is based on extensive empirical fieldwork conducted in Moldova by the Independent Sociological Institute ‘Opinia’, during 2008–9, under the ESRC-funded project referred to in note 1. It included (i) a nation-wide survey (Nov. 2008); (ii) expert interviews (Nov.–Dec. 2008); (iii) a study of school leavers' essays (April 2009); and (iv) focus groups (May 2009).

• (a) The sample for the survey in Moldova included 1,000 respondents and was multi-staged, stratified and random; it was representative of the population aged 18+ (urban and rural) by nationality, sex, region, age and education. Survey interviews lasted on average 40–50 minutes using local languages for interlocution; sample representation error was no more than ±3 per cent. The questionnaire included three thematic blocks addressing (i) foreign policy priorities (EU compared with Russia); (ii) relations with EU (knowledge, perceptions, type of relations); and (iii) the ENP/EaP's effectiveness (knowledge, perceptions, problems and future).

• (b) Ten interviews with experts comprising members of government, parliament, mass media, NGOs, think-tank representatives, and members of political parties. Interviews were semi-structured, in-depth, audio-recorded when permitted, anonymized when requested, and lasted on average 40–50 minutes. Interviews were mainly conducted in Romanian. The questionnaire largely mirrored the three thematic blocks of the survey.

• (c) A sample of school essays (50 in total) involved three randomly selected secondary schools in Chişinău, in which school leavers were requested, without prior warning, to write an essay to a maximum of two pages on pre-set questions. The survey lasted on average 30–45 minutes. Essays were anonymized and computerized. The essays addressed the following three themes: (i) knowledge and perceptions of the EU; (ii) similarities to and differences from the EU; and (iii) future relations with the EU.

• (d) Finally, five focus groups were conducted in Chişinău, Bălţi and Cahul, and on average consisted of seven participants who were sampled using a snowballing method and a screening questionnaire. Individual groups included (i) students; (ii) females with higher education; (iii) males with higher education; (iv) think-tank representatives with some knowledge of the ENP/EaP; and (v) a control group of mixed origin. Interviews lasted up to two hours; and were audio- and video-recorded, using local languages for interlocution. The focus-group scenario mirrored the three thematic blocks used for the survey.

Ann Lewis (ed.), EU and Moldova: On a Fault-line of Europe? (London: The Federal Trust, 2004).

The nation-wide survey was conducted in Nov. 2008, and expert interviews in Nov.–Dec. 2008: see note 37 for further information.

For more details see Elena Korosteleva, ‘Moldova's European Choice: Between Two Stools?’, Europe–Asia Studies, Vol.62, No.8 (2010), pp.324–46.

For further information see ‘Sobytiya 7 iyulya 2010, opyat’ zapret na vina', available at <http://in.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-49925720100706>, accessed 8 July 2010.

Buscaneanu (ed.), Moldova and EU in the European Neighbourhood Policy Context.

Commission of European Communities, ‘Implementation of the European Neighbourhood Policy in 2007: Progress Report Moldova’ (Brussels), SEC(2008) 399, 2 April 2008.

The events included the so-called Twitter revolution, a backlash of the Moldovan population from an attempt by the communists to rig the elections. The events involved a number of street protests and riots, which on many occasions were violently dispersed by the police.

Gheorghiu, Moldova – an Unwelcome Neighbour.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Olga Danii

Olga Danii is Director of the Independent Sociological and Information Service ‘OPINIA’, Chişinău, Moldova, and is completing her doctoral degree in sociology at the University of Bucharest, Romania. She has been involved as a co-ordinator, local consultant and researcher in many international projects and is the author and co-author of over 50 publications on international relations, migration, youth and public communication.

Mariana Mascauteanu

Mariana Mascauteanu is Senior Researcher at the Independent Sociological and Information Service ‘OPINIA’, Chişinău, Moldova. She was a visiting Research Fellow of the University of Teesside (UK) in 2006 and at the Glasgow Caledonian University (UK) in 2007. She has over 20 publications in sociology and politics.