The President of the Competition Council, Alexei Ghertescu attended the bilateral screening meeting on „The economic criteria”, held on 14 October 2024 in Brussels. The event highlighted the commitment of the Republic of Moldova to develop a functioning market economy, to create more opportunities for both undertakings and its citizens, in the context of integration into the European Single Market.

The meeting was structured in two panels. First, „The existence of a functioning market economy”, concerned key issues such as macroeconomic stability, the functioning of product markets, the financial market and the labour market, highlighting Moldova’s progress in these areas. The second compartment, „Capacity to deal with competitive pressure and market forces in the Union”, brought up key topics such as education, innovation, infrastructure and the structure of the business environment.

During the event, Alexei Ghertescu held a presentation focused on the functioning of product markets, highlighting the evolution of state aid reported between 2019-2022, state aid structure in terms of budget revenues and expenditures, as well as developments in the implementation and use of the Information System of the State Aid Register.

This exercise of bilateral screening is a crucial step in the negotiation process for the European integration of the Republic of Moldova, underlining the country’s determination to implement deep economic reforms, constantly supported by the European Union.

The screening was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Economic Development and Digitalization, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Development and other ministries and public institutions.