Rule of Law and the Republic of Moldova’s Aspiration to Become an EU Member State - Acta Universitatis Sapientiae

Acta Univ. Sapientiae, Legal Studies, 14, 1 (2025) 101–122

DOI: 10.47745/AUSLEG.2025.14.1.06

Abstract. The Constitution of the Republic of Moldova upholds the rule of law as a fundamental value. The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Moldova consistently uses the rule of law standard to justify its rulings and refers on a regular basis to the Venice Commission’s Report on the rule of law. The Constitutional Court analyses, when giving its solutions, the main acts of international organizations and relevant European case-law regarding the issues subject to interpretation, which reveals at least the existence of a European consensus. It considers them, based on Article 4 of the Constitution, because the Republic of Moldova has a general obligation to increase its political legitimacy and contribute to the consolidation of a European consensus. In 2022, the Republic of Moldova applied to join the European Union (EU), and the European Council decided to grant it the status of candidate country. The European Commission recommended to the Council that it open accession negotiations with Moldova. After the opening of accession negotiations, the Council approved a general negotiating framework that incorporates the revised enlargement methodology, which provides for an even stronger focus on the fundamental reforms in the accession negotiations. Moldova will need, therefore, to fully embrace and continue to implement reforms, including in the area of rule of law and fundamental rights. Progress in this area will determine the overall pace of negotiations. Since the negotiations are aimed at Moldova fully adopting the EU acquis and ensuring its full implementation and enforcement, taking into account the references to the Venice Commission opinions in the European Commission’s reports and in the declarations of EU officials, the main sources for the Republic of Moldova for defining a rule of law standard during the accession negotiations are the EU acquis and the Venice Commission opinions regarding the Republic of Moldova.

Keywords: rule of law, EU accession, ECtHR, Venice Commission, fundamental rights