Republic of Moldova

THE EU HIGH LEVEL POLICY ADVISORS WERE OFFICIALLY PRESENTED

April 22, 2010-- The European Union’s team of High Level Policy Advisers, will offer expertise to public institutions in the Republic of Moldova. The group was presented today at the Government during an official event with the participation of the Prime Minister Vlad Filat, Head of the European Union Delegation to Moldova, Mr Dirk Schuebel, UN Resident Coordinator in the Republic of Moldova, Kaarina Immonen, Chief Technical Advisor Mr Rupinder Singh, EU ambassadors, members of the Cabinet and civil society organizations representatives.

The EU High Level Policy Advice Mission to the Republic of Moldova consists of 9 international experts who will advise the management of public institutions in carrying out the democratic reforms and acceleration of association and further economic integration between EU and Moldova. The mission is the response of the European Union to the request of the Government of Moldova.

The EU High Level Advisory Group has experts at the following institutions: the Prime Minister’s Office, State Chancellery, the Ministries of Economy, Finance, Justice, Interior, Agriculture and Food Industry, Tax Inspectorate and Public Procurement Agency.

The major objective of the mission is to support the democratic and sustainable development of Moldova through provision of high level policy advice in the overall implementation of the Government Programme “European Integration: Freedom, Democracy, Welfare” 2009-2013, with particular focus on the EU integration process, economic recovery and democratic reforms.

Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova, Mr Vlad Filat, reiterated his vision of EU Integration underwritten by strong commitment to the Rule of Law. In this context, he reiterated that the presence of this mission in Republic of Moldova is extremely important and timely to help guide the government’s reform process and to help improve the absorption of foreign assistance for the betterment of every Moldovan citizen. He particularly highlighted the important contribution already made including the preparations for the highly successful donor conference in Brussels in March.  The PM stated that the group of advisors carry valuable know-how and experience sectorally and EU Integration and underlined the commitment of the government to utilise this expertise to help accelerate Moldova’s transition to a  market economy with a vibrant civic society.

Prime Minister Filat thanked the European Union Delegation and the United Nations Development Programme for a positive response to the government request for policy advice by high level international experts.

The Head of the European Union Delegation to Moldova, Mr Dirk Schuebel, stressed that the programme is providing support to the public institutions to carry out the reforms and expressed his strong belief that the results of the EU advisors’ work with the key institutions of the country will be visible in a short period of time but emphasising the need for continuing political will to ensure that the expert advice is absorbed. Mr  Schuebel emphasized the important role the team of international experts will have in supporting the Republic of Moldova in fulfilment of its commitments for signing the Association Agreement with European Union.

Mr Schuebel thanked the UNDP from Republic of Moldova for acting as implementing agency of this project and in facilitating the response to the government in such a short period of time.

UN Resident Coordinator in the Republic of Moldova, Ms Kaarina Immonen, highlighted the leadership of the Government in carrying reforms aimed at boosting the quality of governance and public services. Ms Immonen stated that this project will benefit from UNDP’s rich expertise in the area of institutional development and capacity building and successful experience in working on similar projects in the region.
The Coordinator of the EU advisors’ team, Mr Rupinder Singh said that the team of international experts will contribute to a clear vision of the Government of Moldova about the European Union integration.
The team of the EU advisors:

1. Chief Technical Advisor to the Prime Minister, Coordinator of the advisors’ team, Rupinder Singh, Great Britain
2. Communications Adviser to the Prime Minister, Daniel Diviricean, Romania
3. Advisor to the Minister of Justice, Ausra Raulickyte, Lithuania
4. Advisor to the Tax Inspectorate, Ernst Mehrengs, Netherlands
5. Advisor to the Minister of Economy, Nick Georgiadis, Greece
6. Advisor to the Public Procurement Agency, Riccardo Maia, Italy
7. Advisor to the Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry, Waldemar Sochaczewski, Poland
8. Advisor to the Minister of Internal Affairs, Dan Peterson, Sweden
9. Advisor to the Minister of Finance, ongoing selection process

The total budget of the project is €1,596,217 funded by the European Union and co-funded and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme.

More information on EU High Level Policy Advice Mission to the Republic of Moldova on the www.undp.md

For contact: Daniel Diviricean, Communications Advisor to the Prime Minister of Moldova, Communications Officer of the Mission, tel. 250 251, mob. 068570687, email: daniel.diviricean@gov.md