Moldova Constitutional Court Green-lights EU Accession Referendum

Top court rules that presidential elections and referendum on Moldova's EU integration will be held simultaneously on October 20.

A family read their voting ballots at a polling station during parliamentary elections in Chisinau, Moldova, on July 11, 2021. Photo: EPA-EFE/Dumitru Doru

The Constitutional Court in Moldovva gave the green light on Tuesday to organise a constitutional referendum on accession to the European Union.

The referendum will take place on October 20, simultaneously with the first round of presidential elections. President Maia Sandu initiated the referendum, and all pro-European parties have announced their involvement in citizens’ information actions related to it.

The referendum question is: “Are you for the accession of the Republic of Moldova to the European Union?”

If the vote succeeds, the Constitution will also be supplemented with a new title, namely “Integration in the European Union”.

According to the draft law to amend the Constitution, the preamble of the Supreme Law will gain two new paragraphs: “Reconfirming the European identity of the people of the Republic of Moldova and the irreversibility of the European course; Declaring integration into the European Union as a strategic objective of the Republic of Moldova”.

President Sandu said in February that despite all the risks, it is the right time to organise a referendum on European integration, as Moldova must definitively assume the external vector of development.

The Vice-President of parliament, Doina Gherman, said on Tuesday that the vote would be automatically stipulated in the Supreme Law without going through an additional vote in parliament. MPs stated that “there is no need for MPs to validate what the people have decided”.

The referendum will be the first referendum in Moldova that forms a basis for changes to the constitution. All others previously organised votes failed due to low turnout, or did not produce legal effects.

The former president of the Constitutional Court and former Minister of Justice, Alexandru Tanase, said on TV on Tuesday that the referendum would confirm the irreversibility of the country’s European course.

“The constitutional provisions will be … binding on all subsequent legislation. The Court’s decision is a very good one. I think that in a short period, the government will launch an information campaign for people to participate in the referendum,” Tanase said.

He added that after Moldova joins the EU, the Constitution will be amended and European legislation will take precedence over national legislation.

The governing Action and Solidarity party, which is close to President Sadnu, has already started a campaign to inform citizens about the benefits of joining the EU.