The legislative and institutional component of the project in the Republic of Moldova

The overall objective of the project is to contribute to the sustainable development of the Black Sea Basin by the prevention and reduction of input of pollutants through river discharges or direct discharges into the sea and by the sustainable management and/or protection of natural resources, including water resources and biodiversity of the Black Sea basin.

In the Republic of Moldova, the project activities were primarily focused on the development of new and additional legislation, secondary laws and regulations in line with the Bucharest Convention implementation requirements and taking into account convergence to EU water related legislation, in particular the Directive 2000/60/EC: Water Framework Directive   (RO,RU). Based on discussions with officials from the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources (MENR) and other organizations, it was agreed that the project will also provide support towards the convergence of the Moldovan legislation also with other two key water-related directives: Directive 91/271/EEC: Urban Wastewater Directive  (RO,RU) and Directive 91/676/EEC: Nitrate Directive  (RO).

In order to develop legislation and regulation necessary to converge with the selected directives, the project carried out a legal gap analysis on the basis of Tables of Concordance for the three directives and an institutional assessment. The results of studies are presented in the Report on Water Directives Convergence Evaluation in Moldova (RO,EN). 

The Legislative and Institutional Working Group (WG) was set up to coordinate, direct and support the convergence work under the project.

The WG members comprised officials from the Ministry Ecology and Natural Resources, “Apele Moldovei” Agency, Parliament (Commission for Public Administration, Ecology and Territorial Development), Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration (Communitarian Legislation Division), Ministry of Agriculture and Food Processing, Ministry of Local Public Administration and a NGOs’ representative.
 
The WG main tasks were to:
• Define priorities and give directions on legislation to be developed;
• Discuss and agree methodology;
• Discuss and comment legal gap analysis and institutional assessment;
• Comment on first draft and regulatory impact assessment;
• Comment on second draft and refined impact assessment;
• Approve finalised draft for submission to other ministries.
 
Three meetings of the WG were organized during the project cycle.

The first WG meeting took place during the Legal Work Initiation Workshop on 25 October 2007. The workshop objectives were:
• To introduce the project;
• Obtain a common understanding of the water law;
• Provide a medium for collaboration between ministries;
• Set up working relationships;
• Reach an agreement on the scope of the legal approximation;
• Finalise the work-plan;
• Further steps.