EU Enlargement and Moldova: Commitment to Rule of Law and Justice Reform

Andrea Mazelliu – University of New York Tirana, Department of Law, Albania

Abstract: One year after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the EU granted the candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova, while putting Georgia on hold towards the EU membership. In Moldova’s commitment to faster integration into the EU, the country is facing challenges in reforming its justice system and establishing new judicial institutions. Moldova is undergoing justice reform as one of the main steps toward EU integration, with vigorous efforts to further strengthen the rule of law and combat corruption in the justice system. In 2020, following EU recommendations and support, Moldova’s pro-European government ventured into “uncharted waters” by initiating the vetting reform of the justice system, aiming to establish a rule of law country that aligns with EU standards. This paper will thoroughly examine the ongoing justice reform that Moldova is carrying out as part of its efforts to integrate into the EU. This paper will methodically analyze Moldova’s vetting process and justice reform, comparing it with models from countries like Albania to identify potential challenges. It will highlight the ongoing development of the rule of law because of these reforms in safeguarding judicial independence and establishing the state of democracy, while also assessing their impact on constitutional stability and the challenges highlighted by the integration process.

10th International Scientific Conference ERAZ 2024 – Conference Proceedings: KNOWLEDGE BASED SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT,  hybrid – online, virtually and in person, Lisbon, Portugal, June 6, 2024

ERAZ Conference Proceedings published by: Association of Economists and Managers of the Balkans – Belgrade, Serbia

ERAZ conference partners: Faculty of Logistics, University of Maribor, Maribor (Slovenia); University of National and World Economy – UNWE, Sofia (Bulgaria); Center for Political Research and Documentation (KEPET), Research Laboratory of the Department of Political Science of University of Crete (Greece); Institute of Public Finance – Zagreb (Croatia); Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Ohrid, University of St. Kliment Ohridski from Bitola (North Macedonia)

ERAZ Conference 2024 Conference Proceedings: ISBN 978-86-80194-86-8, ISSN 2683-5568,

DOI: https://doi.org/10.31410/ERAZ.2024

Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission. 

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