Members of the Steering Committee of the ‘European Union High Level Advisers’ Mission’ convened for the first time in the new phase of the project, on 23 May, to discuss its inception period, the current situation and priority actions for the immediate future.
The meeting was co-chaired by Magdalena Mueller-Uri, Head of Operations Section of the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Moldova, and Artur Mija, Secretary General of the Government. Both officials referred to the unique character of the project – this being a source of top-level European expertise at the disposal of Moldovan authorities in view of speeding reforms implementation on the path towards EU accession.
Steering Committee members got the overview of the project’s Inception Report, highlighting the main activities implemented during the inception period.
Main activities during the Inception period focused on: Deployment of EU High Level Advisers (currently, 10 HLAs are serving in the country); establishing a Technical Support Facility (a tool to provide short- to medium-term expertise for addressing the urgent needs of the beneficiary institutions); setting up the basis for the Internship Programme (a new component of the project, providing the possibility to young people to carry out internships in state institutions being mentored by EU HLAs); and Communication & Visibility forming an integral part of all the project activities (during the Inception period, a new web-site of the project has been designed & launched, and the social media platform has further been updated & promoted).
After plenary discussions, the Inception Report of the project was unanimously approved.
NB: The project has a two-years’ implementation period: from 2 January 2023 until 1 January 2025. The overall objective is to support the Moldovan authorities in the implementation of the reform agenda and in particular, in developing the capacities required for the implementation of the Association Agreement (AA), including the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA), as well as assist towards the EU Accession negotiation process, following the positive Opinion of the European Commission and subsequent conclusions by the European Council to grant the Republic of Moldova candidate status. Beneficiary institutions of the project at present include the Prime Minister’s Office, State Chancellery, Presidential Administration, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, Ministry of Education and Research, Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Finance and the Customs Service.
