EURINT (Aug 2021)
THE ROLE OF EUROPEAN INTEGRATION AND EUROPEAN NEIGHBORHOOD POLICY IN THE EUROPEANISATION OF MOLDOVA
Abstract
The topicality of the neighborhood Europeanization through ENP is undoubtful, particularly due to the fact that the Republic of Moldova has taken a claimable European integration direction and is striving to fulfill the requirements stipulated in the EU-Moldova Association Agreement. The paper aims to provide an overview of both the theoretical aspects by defining and explaining the concept of Europeanization and the background of ENP and how these concepts are practically realized in the attempt to achieve the Europeanization of the Republic of Moldova and understand what bottlenecks should be tackled in order to make a better use of this policy in its pursuit of the European goal. A special attention is allocated to the assessment of the citizen perceptions about EU in general and EU-Moldova relations in particular, common beliefs that have been created among citizens with reference to the EU and the role of the EU as a key player in the Eastern Neighbourhood in general and Europeanisation of the Republic of Moldova. A survey was applied on 173 respondents. Results show that in general Moldovan citizens have a positive belief about the EU, are aware about the EU financial support Moldova received so far and consider EU as a reliable partner from which Moldova has a lot to learn in terms of democracy, law supremacy, human rights and economic development.
