The National Program for Accession (NAP) of the Republic of Moldova to the European Union for 2025-2029 was approved by the Government on 28 May 2025.
The NAP is the main document for planning and monitoring the fulfillment of the obligations generated and assumed during the accession negotiations. It defines the priorities, actions, dynamics and resources necessary for the harmonization of national legislation with the EU acquis, as well as the activities for the adaptation of national institutions to the administrative structures of the European Union.
Its structure consists of the narrative part, as well as the two annexes: Annex A, which includes the normative actions for alignment with the EU acquis, and Annex B, which contains the actions for implementing the EU acquis and developing administrative capacity.
PNA is updated annually, in accordance with the provisions of point 7 of the Government Decision No 306/2025, by integrating the necessary actions to fulfil the recommendations from the annual progress reports published by the European Commission on the European Union Enlargement Package and other commitments assumed during the accession negotiations of the Republic of Moldova to the European Union. At the same time, excluding actions that have already been completed.
Clusters of the National Program for Accession of the Republic of Moldova to the EU
- Cluster I – FUNDAMENTALS
comprises the ‘economic criteria’; the "political criteria", divided into ‘functioning of democratic institutions’ and ‘public administration reform’, also five chapters:
Ch. 5 - Public procurement;
Ch. 18 - Statistics;
Ch. 23 - Judiciary and fundamental rights;
Ch. 24 - Justice, freedom and security;
Ch. 32 - Financial control. - Cluster II - INTERNAL MARKET
includes the four freedoms of the European Single Market, detailed in the following chapters:
Ch. 1 - Free movement of goods;
Ch. 2 - Free movement of workers;
Ch. 3 - Right of establishment and freedom to provide services;
Ch. 4 - Free movement of capital;
Ch. 6 - Company law;
Ch. 7 - Intellectual property law;
Ch. 8 - Competition policy;
Ch. 9 - Financial services;
Ch. 28 - Consumer and health protection. - Cluster III - COMPETITIVENESS & INCLUSIVE GROWTH
comprises 8 negotiating chapters:
Ch. 10 - Information society and media;
Ch. 16 - Taxation;
Ch. 17 - Economic and monetary policy;
Ch. 19 - Social policy and employment;
Ch. 20 - Enterprise and industrial policy;
Ch. 25 - Science and research;
Ch. 26 - Education and culture;
Ch. 29 - Customs union. - Cluster IV - GREEN AGENDA & SUSTAINABLE CONNECTIVITY
composes of 4 negotiating chapters:
Ch. 14 - Transport policy;
Ch. 15 - Energy;
Ch. 21 - Trans-European networks;
Ch. 27 - Environment and climate change. - Cluster V - NATURAL RESOURCES, AGRICULTURE & COHESION
contains 5 negotiating chapters:
Ch. 11 - Agriculture and rural development;
Ch. 12 - Food safety, veterinary and phytosanitary policies;
Ch. 13 - Fisheries;
Ch. 22 - Regional policy and coordination of structural instruments;
Ch. 33 - Financial and budgetary provisions. - Cluster VI - EXTERNAL RELATIONS
comprises 2 negotiating chapters:
Ch. 30 - External relations;
Ch. 31 - Foreign security and defense policy.
IMPORTANT GENERAL NOTES
Acquis
The European Union (EU) acquis is the collection of common rights and obligations that constitute the body of EU law, and is incorporated into the legal systems of EU Member States. The EU acquis evolves continuously over time and includes:
- the content, principles and political objectives of the EU Treaties;
- any legislation adopted to apply those treaties and the case-law developed by the Court of Justice of the European Union;
- declarations and resolutions that are adopted by the EU;
- measures in the fields of common foreign and security policy and justice and home affairs;
- international agreements that the EU concludes, and agreements concluded among the Member States themselves with regard to the EU’s activities.
Candidate (applicant) countries are required to accept the acquis before they can join the EU. Derogations (exceptions) from the acquis are granted only in exceptional circumstances and are limited in scope. The acquis must be incorporated by candidate countries into their national legal order by the date of their accession to the EU, and they are obliged to apply it from that date.
Accession process to the EU
Accession of new countries to the European Union (EU) is governed by Article 49 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU). A country wishing to join the EU:
- must be a European state;
- must respect the common values held by EU Member States and undertake to promote them — these values are human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities (Article 2 of TEU).
A country is granted candidate country status by the European Council following an opinion from the European Commission, drawn up following that country’s application for EU membership. Candidate status does not give the country an automatic right to join the EU.
During its accession process, the candidate country demonstrates that it meets the accession (Copenhagen) criteria and is able to take on the rights and obligations of EU membership.
Depending on the specific situation, the candidate country will need to see through a deep reform process, for instance by improving its infrastructure and administrative capacities with a view to implementing new legislation in line with the body of EU laws and standards (known as the acquis). For the candidate countries and potential candidates to meet the conditions of membership, a strong focus on the fundamental reforms in the rule of law, the economy and functioning of democratic institutions and public administration is required. Throughout the accession process, the Commission scrutinises and accompanies the candidate country’s and potential candidates’ reform process with financial and technical assistance, helping it to prepare for EU membership.
Treaties of the European Union
The Treaties of the European Union are a set of international treaties between the European Union (EU) member states which sets out the EU's constitutional basis. They establish the various EU institutions together with their remit, procedures and objectives. The EU can only act within the competences granted to it through these treaties and amendment to the treaties requires the agreement and ratification (according to their national procedures) of every single signatory.
Two core functional treaties, the Treaty on European Union (originally signed in Maastricht in 1992, The Maastricht Treaty) and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (originally signed in Rome in 1957 as the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community i.e. The Treaty of Rome), lay out how the EU operates, and there are a number of satellite treaties which are interconnected with them. The treaties have been repeatedly amended by other treaties over the 65 years since they were first signed. The consolidated version of the two core treaties is regularly published by the European Commission.
The main Legal basis of the Republic of Moldova
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Government Decision No. 306/2025 on the approval of the National Program for the Accession of the Republic of Moldova to the European Union for the years 2025-2029
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Law No. 136/2017 on the Government
Main legal basis of the EU
- Treaty on European Union (TEU) and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), consolidated version
- European Council conclusions on the launch of accession negotiations, 14 - 15 December 2023