Why Moldova is raring to start its EU accession talks

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Good morning. News to start: The EU is preparing to levy tariffs on grain imports from Russia and Belarus, in its first restriction on food products since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. 

Today, I hear from Moldova’s EU accession chief on why the country is ready and waiting to start its gruelling reform path to joining the bloc, and our trade correspondent explains why EU trade regulators are under attack for their stance towards . . . puppies.

Moving target

Moldova is pushing for progress on its path to EU membership after meeting a number of reform milestones, as accession countries worry about Brussels losing focus on enlargement.

Context: After years of resistance, EU members embraced further enlargement of the bloc in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. EU leaders in December agreed to open formal accession talks with Moldova and Ukraine, but progress has stalled since then on setting a start date for negotiations.

“Moldova has fulfilled all the three recommendations set by the [European] Commission in November. And we would be very grateful for member states to acknowledge these efforts made so far,” said Cristina Gerasimov, Moldova’s deputy prime minister for European integration.

The war in Ukraine has put intense economic strain on neighbouring Moldova and seen Russia launch hybrid attacks on the country. That has intensified efforts by its pro-western government to speed up reforms necessary to meet the demands of EU membership.

EU leaders will discuss the bloc’s enlargement at a summit on Thursday. Some countries, including Austria, are pushing for Bosnia and Herzegovina’s membership bid — which was endorsed by the European Commission last week — to be linked to that of Moldova and Ukraine.

Other officials, both in Brussels and in member state capitals, say the various prospective member states should be treated according to their own merits, pointing out that Bosnia’s reform progress during the past two years has been far less impressive than Moldova’s or Ukraine’s.

Gerasimov thanked the commission for producing a draft negotiation framework — a document that sets out the rules and structure of a country’s accession talks — and said Chișinău “looks forward to its swift adoption” by the 27 EU members.

“We would like to see a negotiation framework that allows us to accelerate our domestic reform agenda so that we can join the EU as soon as possible,” she added.

In Moldova, public support for EU accession rose from around 55 per cent before the EU’s December decision to open accession talks, to 68 per cent afterwards, according to a poll released last month.

“We need to sustain that support,” Gerasimov said.

Chart du jour: Back on track

The eurozone’s monthly trade surplus rose to a record high at the start of the year, as the price of energy imports dropped and exports increased. 

Paw patrol

Should EU trade partners follow the same rules as EU producers?

The EU’s trade chief Valdis Dombrovskis yesterday rebuked the idea of “mirror clauses” in trade deals — the idea of forcing imports to follow the same production methods as EU goods.

But activists say his department’s zeal on the issue went too far with an attack on puppies and kittens last year, writes Andy Bounds.

Context: As Brussels raises green standards, industry groups and some capitals increasingly want them applied to foreign competitors, too. But at a press conference on relaunching trade talks with the Philippines, Dombrovskis said they “cannot be something arbitrary from the EU side” under international rules.

The power of the European Commission’s mighty trade department was put to the test in November, when it tried to throttle a plan to improve dog and cat welfare for animals, horrifying NGOs.

Online sales by dubious sellers are growing, including of fluffy imports from Russia. The new rules would for the first time impose uniform requirements for the housing, breeding and care of dogs and cats in the EU, and compulsory microchipping to trace them.

But an internal document obtained by the Financial Times shows the EU’s trade department opposed the plan, because it would impose the same conditions on imports.

Trade officials said the conditions “will not be possible to enforce” in third countries. Animal rights activists slammed their stance: “One can only assume that [the directorate-general for] trade was happy to sacrifice animal welfare, consumer rights and veterinary-public health on the altar of untrammelled free trade,” said Joe Moran, director of charity Four Paws.

But ultimately, the proposal was adopted in December. And for all of Dombrovskis’ clamouring against stricter trade rules, the EU last week agreed tougher standards on recycled plastic imports.

The commission said it didn’t comment on internal decision making procedures.

What to watch today

1. EU general affairs ministers meet to prepare leaders’ summit.

2. US defence secretary Lloyd Austin hosts Ukraine defence contact group meeting.

3. Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg travels to Armenia.

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