I'm quite optimistic that if the reform process is maintained our cooperation will further intensify next year, Dirk Schuebel

{“Moldova closer to the EU?” Info-Prim Neo interview with Ambassador Dirk Schuebel, Head of the European Union Delegation to Moldova, from the series “2011: how it was and how it wasn’t} [ - Looking retrospectively, how did this year turn out for Moldova in terms of European Union aspirations?] - I think that the year 2011 has been another very successful year in the bilateral relations between the Republic of Moldova and the European Union. We've been able to achieve a number of positive steps. I would just like to mention that we have concluded altogether eight rounds of negotiations on the Association Agreement, and we have just been able to launch officially the negotiations on the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement. Just yesterday (December 12) in a meeting between Prim Minister Filat and the Commissioner for Trade these negotiations have been officially launched. Furthermore, we have initialled an Aviation Agreement, which has been negotiated at record speed, in only two negotiating rounds. We hope that this agreement will enter into force in the early part of next year. We have also made substantial progress in our visa dialogue. This is just to name a few of the positive achievements of 2011. Obviously, we continue working closely with the Republic of Moldova and I am quite optimistic that if the reform process is maintained, our cooperation will further intensify next year. [ - Last year Moldova started the negotiations on visa liberalization with the EU. How has Moldova fared so far? Do you think we can call 2012 a realistic target date?] - First of all, I think nobody had expected that, after the launch of the visa dialogue in June 2010, we would indeed now look already to move to the second phase in the visa dialogue. We will have to wait a little bit longer, because we have an impact assessment on the way, which hopefully can be finalized in the early part of next year, and if this impact assessment is positive, if our report that will be published shortly will be positive, then indeed we can move to the second phase in the first part of next year. Whether or not there will be already a visa free regime by the end of next year is difficult to say and I would not like to speculate on this. The fact is, a lot of progress has been made. I will also like to remind you of the beginning of this dialogue: at the origin, it was very clearly mentioned from the EU side that this is a dialogue with an open-end, meaning, we don't know the outcome – whether there will be a visa free regime at the end of the talks or not. I think we can safely say today that the question is no longer {[if]}, it is merely a question {[when]} such visa free regime will be installed. This, as such, is already a success, which is due to the very good performance that Moldova has delivered over the last one and a half year. [ - Is there any risk that one (or more) European Union country (or countries) might oppose the free movement of Moldova citizens within the EU? ] - It's difficult to say at this moment in time. As I mentioned in the answer to your previous question, originally the visa dialogue was with an open end. I believe that if Moldova will fulfill the conditions, then we will look into this question again and I'm moderately positive that member states can be convinced to support such a visa free regime in the, at least, medium term. However, Moldova is continuing to work hard and we are supporting Moldova in these efforts. I would just like to remind you of two important projects that help Moldova in the process of approaching to European standards with regard to the visa dialogue. One project is to provide Moldova's border guards with a radio communication network of latest technical standards. We are also helping you with the project on biometric passports, which has enabled you to issue only biometric passports to your citizens since January 1. [ - How do you explain the drop in the Moldovans' interest in European integration, as indicated by the last Public Opinion Barometer? Is this some sort of euroscepticism? Where does it come from?] - First of all, I would like to say that I have stopped believing in surveys done in your country after the last preterm parliamentary elections, because most surveys and the exit polls were completely wrong. Therefore we should take these surveys “with a pinch of salt”, as the English say. I would be careful in judging whether this is a real result. However, it is clear that we have to continuously work on our image. That is also my job as Ambassador of the EU in the Republic of Moldova: we have to work on informing the citizens correctly on what the EU is all about, about the real situation and also about the problems that we are facing currently during the financial crisis. We have done so here on the spot, for instance, by opening a number of European information centers in different cities and by helping to establish a system of Euroclubs, where people, young people mainly, can discuss European issues, etc. And, obviously, I'm trying, together with my delegation here, to inform the people as much as we can as well. I would not exclude that the European Union in such surveys is also linked with the performance of the Alliance of European Integration, which very often uses the European Union in the context of the activities that it undertakes, which is natural. Maybe this is another question, that such surveys should clearly distinguish between the EU as such and the work of the Alliance of European Integration, which of course we hope will be successful, no doubt. [ - How does the domestic political situation influence the dialogue between Moldova and the European Union? What should we expect in the immediate future and what should we expect from 2012?] - I have said in many previous interviews that it would be good to have a President elected in order to avoid another round of preterm elections, because experience shows that reforms are not continued in the way they have been carried out before in a pre-election phase. Therefore it will be good if on December 16 a President could be elected. I don't know if this will materialize. Moldova has worked very well with the European Union also without a President, to tell the truth. Our bilateral relations have not been influenced in this process very much. However, of course, we would like to see the domestic reforms being advanced, and in this sense I think a President is necessary to stabilize the political system. In such a stable political situation, reforms can easier be undertaken in such crucial areas as justice and the law enforcement institutions. (By the way, we will support the reform of the justice sector with a budget support worth €52 million, the first tranche of which is likely to be paid at end of next year.) So, I believe this will also be the big task for 2012. [Dumitrita Ciuvaga, Info-Prim Neo]