Moldovan, Romanian parliaments discuss within panel joint meetings

Chisinau, 20 November /MOLDPRES/ – The Moldovan and Romanian MPs discussed for the first time several topical issues during 3 panel meetings, which took place in Romanian Parliament. The talks took place at the meeting of the Joint Commission for European Integration between the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova and the Parliament of Romania, the parliament’s communication and public relations department has reported.

On discussion agenda within panel of economy, regional development, energy, agriculture, industry and services, there were debated topics such as interconnection of natural gas networks, electricity, road, rail and air transport between Moldova and Romania, exchange of experience in the field of harmonization the national legislation with the European one, participation of Moldova, together with Romania, to cross – border and transnational projects. The speakers were George Mocanu, Ion Balan, Alina Zotea and Marcel Raducan.

The representatives of relevant ministries presented detailed info on the stage of development of initiated projects, as well as potential for launching new Moldovan – Romanian projects. According to the official data, Romania is the main trade partner of Moldova, volume of trade registered since the beginning of 2017 up to almost one billion USD (exports accounted for $411 million, imports – $494 million). According to the State Registration Chamber’s (CIS) data, 1,778 companies with Romanian capital are active in Moldova and investments in social capital up to MDL 697 million. Also, discussions in economic panel reiterated the importance of training specialists for better access to European funds, but also increasing the speed of implementation of energy interconnection projects.

Within the European affairs, foreign policy, security and national security panel, parliamentarians discussed issues related to Moldova’s efforts to reach the acquis communautaire, as well as transfer of expertise within cyber security.

Third panel discussions, education, culture and human resources focused on new projects in the field of education, including scholarships, fellowships, internships, exchanges of experience, transfer of best practices in areas such as protection of children and persons with disabilities, combat of discrimination, etc. The lawmakers also discussed a number of proposals for actions to be included in the celebrations of the Centenary of the Great Union.

Member of Parliament, George Mocanu, proposed organizing internships for civil servants to take over Romania’s pre – accession experience, identifying possibilities of launching a re – qualification programme for the Romanian language teachers, increasing the number of internships offered to teachers, and completing the current scholarship programme for students with an academic mobility programme for one semester, dedicated to students studying in educational institutions in Moldova.

The proposals approved after the debates will be found in the Declaration of the sixth meeting of the Joint Commission for European Integration between the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova and the Parliament of Romania, which will be signed on 21 November 2017 and contain priorities within recent Moldovan – Romanian cooperation.