The Republic of Moldova (hereafter, 'Moldova') has been an active member of the European Eastern Partnership since its launch in 2009. An Association Agreement with the EU was signed on 27 June 2014 and ratified by Moldova on 2 July 2014. A revised EU-Moldova Association Agenda establishing a set of jointly agreed priorities towards further implementation of the Association Agreement was adopted for the period 2021-2027.
On 3 March 2022, Moldova officially applied for EU membership and on 16 June 2022 the European Council recommended that Moldova is granted candidate status and given the perspective to become a member of the European Union on the understanding that the country takes a number of reform steps. On 14 December 2023, the European Council decided to open accession negotiations with Moldova.
SIGMA has been providing assistance to various areas of public administration reform since 2010, supporting reforms in various areas of public administration and public financial management in Moldova. SIGMA is currently co-operating with:
- The State Chancellery on the implementation of the Public Administration Reform Strategy and implementing some of its key reforms in civil service legislation and digitalisation of public services.
- The Ministry of Finance on the implementation of the Public Financial Management Reform Strategy and implementing some of its key reforms.
- The Public Procurement Agency and the National Agency for Complaints Settlement on the implementation of the public procurement reform, capacity building of the central procurement institutions and professionalisation/certification programme for procurement officers.
- The Court of Accounts (CoA) on a peer review, the alignment of the Court's legal framework with international standards and strengthening the co-operation with the Parliament.
