Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-10-22-Speech-4-041"
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"en.20091022.5.4-041"2
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".
I have made one extremely important observation: the political support is there in Parliament for strengthening ties with the Republic of Moldova and bringing this country closer to the European Union.
The agenda for these talks includes the format, objectives and timetable for the negotiations, as well as the components in the future agreement. We are therefore in negotiations on this issue.
The last matter I would like to mention is about the issue of the visa waiver. According to the joint declaration made on 7 May 2009, which marked the launch of the Eastern Partnership, the European Union is going to adopt measures that gradually move towards a visa waiver, with the long-term objective of achieving this for every country which is a member of this partnership. The conditions for this are fulfilment of the requirements relating to good governance and security, and guaranteeing security of movement.
At the present juncture, the European Commission is waiting with particular interest for the Council discussion about initiating a structured dialogue on a visa waiver with the Republic of Moldova. Until then, we have been and are still giving strong encouragement to the authorities in the Republic of Moldova to continue their reforms in the areas of justice, freedom and security, which will undoubtedly facilitate the discussions about easing the visa regime.
I must specifically reply to some of the issues that have been raised just now. One of the most important of these related to the coordination between the European Commission and International Monetary Fund on granting macrofinancial assistance. As I have said before, we work closely with the IMF on coordinating our assistance procedures. It is still too early for us to say how these agreements will turn out, but we think that the European Union may wish to ensure that the adjustment programme also includes a series of reforms that we regard as essential to ensuring good governance and sustainable growth in the future.
Based on the experience gained from macrofinancial assistance programmes for other countries, it is possible that, as part of the negotiations on the exact procedures involved in providing this aid, certain conditions may crop up specifically linked, for instance, to good governance, which was mentioned by several speakers, and to harmonisation of the European Neighbourhood Policy. I want to emphasise once again the following fact: based on the rules which we need to follow, we are not able to grant macroeconomic assistance alone. Therefore, an agreement needs to be concluded between the authorities in the Republic of Moldova and the International Monetary Fund. Without this agreement, the macrofinancial assistance which we have spoken about more specifically cannot be provided.
On the other hand, I want to assure you that we are coordinating our actions with the International Monetary Fund. An IMF delegation is currently in Chişinău. As I have already told you, our colleagues from DG FIN are also in Chişinău, coordinating the dialogue with the International Monetary Fund, as well as with the authorities in the Republic of Moldova.
Another issue that was mentioned concerns what other assistance the European Union can give the Republic of Moldova that is geared towards the population, to show that we actually want to support not only the authorities in the Republic of Moldova, but the population as well. Let me give you just a few examples. This Community assistance has brought and will continue to bring specific benefits to the population.
We are cofinancing road infrastructure projects, the modernisation of Chişinău airport, the expansion of the Republican Clinical Hospital in Chişinău, which is the largest in the country, as well as the consolidation of primary medical assistance. In spring this year, we supplied medical equipment with a value of EUR 4.5 million to 60 clinics in the Republic of Moldova.
This country is the largest per capita beneficiary of Community assistance after the Palestinian Territories. As part of the European Neighbourhood Policy, the assistance budget, which rose to EUR 40 million in 2007, increased this year to EUR 62 million, and is forecast to continue growing.
We cannot clearly quantify at the moment the size of the financial assistance package as part of the macroeconomic support and the other programmes and types of support we are going to provide. A figure for this will be given when we reach the stage of concluding an agreement with the authorities in the Republic of Moldova, one which will specifically meet the needs that this country has.
There were two further issues raised. One of these concerns the timetable for the negotiations for concluding a new association agreement with the Republic of Moldova. I wish to tell you that last week, the European Commission sent a delegation to Chişinău for technical consultations with the authorities on negotiating a new agreement."@en1
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