REFERENDUM 2024 // Former Moldovan PM says European Union most successful project of economic, social development

Chisinau, 27 September /MOLDPRES/ -

Moldova’s citizens on 20 October 2024 will participate in a constitutional referendum, during which they will answer the question: ‘’Do you support the amendment of the Constitution for the Republic of Moldova’s accession to the European Union?’’   

The results of the plebiscite will represent ground, if most residents answer affirmatively to this question, for the amendment of Moldova’s Constitution, so that the European integration’s desideratum should be compulsory for all governances due to come.

The former prime minister, Natalia Gavrilita, has said that the European Union was the most successful project of economic and social development for any country. She stressed that this success did not regard also the increase in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per head, but also the improvement of the social standards and the consumers’ protection. Gavrilita stressed that the accession to EU brought peace, well-being and a democratic system which allows each citizen to fulfill his/her potential. The statements were made in an exclusive interview made by the Association for Participatory Democracy (ADEPT) about the process of Moldova’s European integration within the Backstage of the European Integration information campaign.    

„In my opinion, the European integration is the best success project of economic and social development for any country. Here, I talk about not only the increase in the GDP per head, i.e. the well-being divided to the number of residents, but also about the general context in which a man can fulfill his/her potential.  

But even if we mean the material aspect or the economic growth in a country, we see that we started more or less at the same level with the Baltic Countries or Romania. The GDP per head was of about 1,000 dollars in Moldova in 1990, in Romania, it was of 1,650 dollars, while in Latvia, which has a population similar to the one from Moldova and even a Russian-speaking minority, the GDP per head was of over 2,000 dollars. In early 2000s, in 2004, when Latvia integrated into EU and in 2007, when Romania became European Union member, we saw already a quite high increase in the GDP per head for these countries. In Romania, the GDP grew from 1,650 dollars to about 8,000 dollars when it became EU member country. In Latvia, the GDP was of more than 6,000 dollars; so, it increased 3-4-5-fold. At the same time, in Moldova, till early 2000s, we witnessed even an economic regress or decrease, reaching even 25 per cent of the GDP per head.      

Moreover, we see that the EU member countries increased with sustained paces even if after they became or maybe more after they became EU member countries. In Latvia, the GDP per head in 2022 reached 20,000 dollars and the growth continued in the next years. The forecasts show that the GDP will reach 23,000-24,000 dollars in 2024. As for Romania, the GDP per head in 2022 reached 15,000 dollars and we again saw a sustained growth, even the highest growth from EU in 2023.      

At the same time, in Moldova, the GDP per head hardly amounted to over 5,000 dollars. Now, I do mean accurate figures, but the tendencies we see. The countries which join EU have completely different levels and different paces of economic development. And here it is about not only the fact that they become members of an economic bloc and a single market with many consumers, have access to capital and to foreign investments, but also provide a more predictable system, with clear-cut rules and high standards of protection for consumers and workers, which, in fact, allows the development of small- and medium-sized enterprises, the use of ever more advanced technologies, investments in productivity, education and research. We see that the accession to EU brings peace, well-being and, quite important, a democratic system which allows each citizen fulfilling his/her potential,’’ Natalia Gavrilita said.