17 February 2025, Chișinău - The Bureau for European Integration organised public discussions on negotiating positions for the chapters included in Cluster 1 'Fundamentals'. These chapters address areas such as the rule of law, justice, public administration reform and the functioning of democratic institutions.

'The 'Fundamentals' cluster represents the group of chapters that we are opening negotiations with and the last one we are closing them. The rhythm of the Republic of Moldova's EU accession negotiations will depend on the progress made on these chapters' said Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration Cristina Gherasimov.

The discussions were attended by representatives of civil society, academia, business associations and political parties. The negotiating position is the key document by which the Republic of Moldova outlines the approach and the timelines it proposes to adopt and implement the European norms and standards that guide all EU Member States.

On 15 November 2024, the Republic of Moldova concluded the bilateral screening stage for the first group of chapters - 'Fundamentals', and in January 2025, the European Commission submitted the screening report to the European Council. The next step is to organise the second intergovernmental conference, to mark the opening of the negotiations itself for the first cluster.