Regulation 2025/535 - Reform and Growth Facility for Moldova - Main contents

Official Journal

of the European Union

EN

L series

2025/535

21.3.2025

The Union is founded on the values referred to in Article 2 of the Treaty on the European Union (TEU), which include democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights. Those values form part of the accession criteria established at the Copenhagen European Council in June 1993 (Copenhagen criteria), which constitute the conditions of eligibility for Union membership.

The Union enlargement process is built on established criteria, fair and rigorous conditionality and the principle of own merits. A firm commitment to ‘fundamentals first’ approach, which requires a strong focus on the rule of law, fundamental rights, the functioning of democratic institutions and public administration reform, as well as on economic criteria, remains essential. Progress depends on implementation by the Republic of Moldova (Moldova) of the necessary reforms to align with the Union acquis.

Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine further showed that Union enlargement is a geo-strategic investment in peace, security and stability. The Union is fully and unequivocally committed to the Union membership perspective of Moldova. Moldova’s orientation and commitment towards the Union is a strong expression of its strategic choice and place in a community of values. Moldova’s EU path needs to be firmly anchored in tangible and concrete progress on reforms.

It is in the common interest of the Union and Moldova to advance with the reforms to its political, legal and economic systems with a view to its future Union membership and to support its accession process. The prospect of Union membership has a powerful transformative effect, embedding positive democratic, political, economic and societal change and contributes to strengthening Moldova’s resilience.

It is necessary to bring forward some of the advantages of Union membership before accession. Economic convergence is at the heart of those benefits. Currently, the convergence of Moldova in terms of GDP per capita expressed in purchasing power standards remains low at 29 % of the Union average and is not progressing fast enough. Moldova’s diaspora should also be considered as an important contributor to Moldova’s social and economic development.

As accession negotiations with Moldova opened in June 2024, it is important to provide necessary support to Moldova’s accession track. Furthermore, it is important that support be brought to levels that are comparable with other candidate countries engaged in accession negotiations and that commensurate resources are ensured.

The implementation of the Growth Plan for Moldova requires the appropriate funding under a dedicated new financing instrument (the ‘Facility’). The Facility is to assist the country in implementing reforms for sustainable economic growth and advance on the fundamentals of the enlargement process.

Given Russia’s unjust war of aggression against Ukraine, which has profoundly impacted Moldova’s security, economy, and citizens’ livelihoods, as well as the ongoing and unprecedented hybrid attacks targeting the country and its democratic institutions, the Facility should aim to support Moldova in facing significant...