The Europeanization dynamic in the Republic of Moldova

Abstract

The policy initiative which aims to deepen and strengthen relations between the EU and Moldova is in the context of the Eastern Partnership, launched in 2009 within the framework of the European Neighbourhood Policy. The article aims to identify avenues of Europeanization of Moldova, considering however the tensions involved in the alternative of cooperation and modelling civil society, institutions, policies and economy, that is the Eurasian Economic Union. Europeanization works differently in the case of countries outside the EU, especially in the cases of new democracies having the EU as a relevant foreign partner. Departing from the Association Agenda of the Association Agreement, this paper aims to analyse the evidences of Europeanization in Moldova by looking at the regulations, laws and amendments to law implemented by the Moldovan Government as assessed in the Implementation Reports. The conceptual contribution of Gawrich et al. (2009) will be useful, as well as data from different sources such as the World Bank and selected surveys. We expect to contribute by creating a model of analysis that can be applied in other cases and promote a comparison of the potential impact of Europeanization on the EU’s neighbours’ countries.