Moldovan PM, EU commissioner make joint statements on Growth Plan, Moldova’s European path

European integration is a national project for Moldova, not only for the government, but also for the people. It unites us behind a great idea: that we are a country meant to become a member of the European Union and a country that, with your help, we expect will become a member of the European Union by the end of this decade. Prime Minister Vasile Tofan today made statements to this effect in Chișinău, during a joint press conference with European Commissioner for Economy and Productivity Valdis Dombrovskis.

The two officials discussed the implementation of the Growth Plan for Moldova, worth up to 1.9 billion euros, the reforms undertaken by the country and the acceleration of European investments in infrastructure and the economy. The plan for 2025–2027 is conditional on the implementation of the reforms agreed between Moldova and the European Union.

Vasile Tofan said that the Growth Plan should contribute not only to advancing the accession process, but also to modernizing the economy.

“In addition to being an economic modernization project, it helps us build a more productive, more competitive and better-governed country,” the prime minister said.

According to him, the priorities are increasing private investment, developing more productive companies, using public funds efficiently and improving infrastructure.

“This means more private investment, more productive companies, a state that uses taxpayers’ money productively and better infrastructure,” Tofan said.

Fiscal discipline was one of the topics discussed. The prime minister said that the government was committed to managing both public funds and European funds prudently.

“The government has committed to ensuring fiscal discipline and treating public money, including European funds, with the utmost care, ensuring maximum impact for every euro and Moldovan leu spent,” Vasile Tofan said.

The prime minister also referred to Latvia’s experience in fiscal discipline, noting that such measures can be difficult in the short term, but may produce long-term effects.

The PM also highlighted the effects already being felt by citizens as a result of Moldova’s rapprochement with the European market.

“SEPA is a good example. A transfer that once cost 20 euros now costs 1 euro, and millions of Moldovans benefit directly from this, including our large Diaspora,” the prime minister said.

He noted Moldova’s integration into the European roaming regime.

“The same applies to roaming—roaming like at home, at domestic prices. We used to call our parents back home, which cost a fortune, if you happened to forget to turn off roaming. Today, thanks to the European Union, it is much easier for us to feel like genuine European citizens, when it comes to things such as roaming and bank transfers,” Vasile Tofan said.

During the conference, the prime minister also discussed the agenda for negotiations on accession to the European Union. According to Tofan, the authorities aim to open all negotiating clusters by the end of the year, and to start the process of closing chapters in 2027.

“This is a major responsibility, because we are responsible for delivering results. I want to assure you that our civil servants did not take their holidays in August; they worked overtime and on weekends to achieve the results they committed to,” the prime minister said.

He acknowledged that the goals are ambitious, but emphasized that this is the pace the government has set for itself.

“I know that this is an ambitious objective. If we did not like ambitious objectives, we would not have set ourselves the goal of signing the accession treaty by 2028,” Tofan said.

For his part, European Commissioner for Economy and Productivity Valdis Dombrovskis said that implementation of the Growth Plan was progressing and that Moldova had made progress in more areas.

“Moldova and the EU are at an important crossroads. Accession negotiations with the European Union are under way, and the new government has become integrated into this process,” Dombrovskis said.

According to the European official, Moldova has reduced bureaucracy, improved public investment management and strengthened energy security.

“All these efforts are already bearing fruit,” the European commissioner said.

Dombrovskis said that investment projects worth 641 million euros from international financial institutions and private investors had been announced at the investment conference for Moldova. The European Commission had previously announced that these projects were part of efforts to mobilize investment for the priorities of the Growth Plan.

“This is a clear signal that reform attracts investment and that we should maintain this environment conducive to reform,” Valdis Dombrovskis said.

The European commissioner said that more than 500 million euros from the grant component of the Growth Plan had already been made available to Moldova.

“We are currently assessing the reform steps that had to be undertaken by June 2026, in order to disburse another 157 million euros, which will be provided soon,” Dombrovskis said.

Data published by the European Commission shows that Moldova has so far unlocked approximately 504 million euros under the Reform and Growth Facility.

The European commissioner emphasized that implementation of the Growth Plan was only halfway through the scheduled period and that a significant volume of reforms remained to be carried out.

“In terms of time, we have reached the halfway point in the reform process, but another two to three years of reforms still need to be implemented,” Dombrovskis said.

He said that 40 reforms must be completed by December, while another 57 are planned for 2027.

“Some of them include the reform of state-owned enterprises and public administration—complex reforms. The commitment remains strong at the highest level, and efforts are being made by the entire government,” the European commissioner said.

The government has earlier said announced that 40 reform measures were planned for the second half of 2026 under the Growth Plan.

Asked whether Moldova is falling behind in implementing reforms and investments, Vasile Tofan distinguished between the two components of the Growth Plan.

“We have two important pillars in this reform framework. (...) There is a list of reforms that we must deliver, and for each reform the state receives a certain amount of money from the European Union,” the prime minister said.

Ass for reforms, Tofan said that Moldova was making good progress.

“On this pillar, we are progressing very well, so we are managing to implement the reforms. In fact, we have the highest completion rate among all candidate countries,” the prime minister said.

However, in the case of capital investments, the PM acknowledged that there are delays.

“The second important pillar concerns capital investments. Here, I must admit that there is more work to be done, because some of the projects are delayed,” Tofan said.

To accelerate the projects, the government intends to centralize the functions of more agencies within a single structure—Moldova Project.

“Our intention is to increase productivity quite dramatically by centralizing the functions in an agency, which we announced at yesterday’s Government meeting, Moldova Project. This will allow the many agencies decentralized at ministerial level to be concentrated into a single agency,” the prime minister explained.

According to Tofan, the new structure should also reduce administrative costs.

“It will also allow us to save costs in the medium term, because there will be one agency instead of 12, and it will enable us to get things done much faster,” the prime minister said.

He said that the government was studying the experience of other Balkan states in this area and mentioned Greece as an example presented during discussions with the European official.

Valdis Dombrovskis confirmed that the pace of investments can be accelerated.

“As regards the pace of investment, as the prime minister also said, there is indeed room for improvement, and we are looking for ways to accelerate investment and implement projects more quickly in order to achieve stronger economic growth and unlock additional economic potential,” the European commissioner said.

He welcomed the government’s intention to create a centralized entity for projects’ implementation.

“This can make a tangible difference,” Dombrovskis said, adding that the European Union would continue working with the Moldovan authorities to accelerate investment projects.

Dombrovskis emphasized that Moldova’s economic integration into the European Union was already taking place, including through the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA).

“Moldova and the European Union are each other’s largest trading partners,” the European official said.

According to the data he presented, 57 per cent of Moldova’s exports are directed to the EU market, while 70 per cent of foreign direct investment in Moldova comes from the European Union.

“In other words, this economic integration is already happening,” Dombrovskis said.

However, the European commissioner also identified areas where Moldova still has work to do, including energy security and the business environment.

“Of course, there are also major challenges in the energy resources market, but we are working hard there as well, implementing major infrastructure projects to ensure Moldova’s integration with electricity and gas networks and markets, helping overcome dependence on Russian supplies,” he said.

In the European official’s opinion, another important objective is improving the business and investment environment.

“European investors and businesses are interested in strengthening their presence here, but obviously it is important to have solid macroeconomic fundamentals and an investment-friendly environment,” Dombrovskis said.

At the end of the conference, Vasile Tofan returned to the need to turn European funding into concrete projects.

“The largest of them is the Growth Plan. It is time for the funds allocated to Moldova to be reflected in new roads, new hospitals, modernized infrastructure and, as I said, this is an area where we still have work to do,” the prime minister said.

According to him, the government will present its latest proposed projects to its European partners for financing and provide information about its capacity to implement investments.

“Our intention is to present the latest projects we are proposing for financing by our European partners and to provide them with more updates about what we believe is our increased implementation capacity following the creation of this centralized agency,” Tofan said.

The prime minister added that the authorities want to show that they had taken into account their European partners’ observations regarding the pace of implementation.

“We want our friends in Europe to see that we listen to their feedback, we listen to their comments, and we know what we need to do to accelerate these projects, which are important for Europe,” Vasile Tofan said.

For his part, Valdis Dombrovskis reaffirmed the European Union’s support for Moldova’s European path.

“Moldova can count on our support on its path toward EU membership, and we will be there at every step,” the European commissioner said.

The Growth Plan for Moldova, proposed by the European Commission in October 2024 and approved in 2025, is worth up to 1.9 billion euros for the 2025–2027 period and is linked to the implementation of reforms and the acceleration of  Moldova’s economic integration into the European single market.