Changes from plenary report to adopted text

Removed(d) whether the Reform Agenda can be expected to further strengthen the fundamentals of the enlargement process as referred to in Article 3(2), point (a);

Removed(e) whether the Reform Agenda can be expected to accelerate the transition of Moldova towards sustainable, climate-neutral and climate resilient and inclusive economy by improving connectivity, making progress on the twin transition of green and digital, including biodiversity, reducing strategic dependencies and boosting research and innovation, education, training, employment and skills and the wider labour market, with particular attention on youth;

Removed(f) whether the measures included in the Reform Agenda are compatible with the principles of ‘do no significant harm’ and of ‘leaving no one behind’;

Removed(g) whether the Reform Agenda appropriately addresses potential risks in compliance with preconditions and payment conditions;

Removed(h) whether the payment conditions proposed by Moldova are appropriate and ambitious, consistent with the enlargement policy framework, as well as sufficiently meaningful and clear to allow for the corresponding release of funds in case of their fulfilment and whether the proposed reporting indicators are appropriate and sufficient to monitor and report on the progress made towards the overall objectives;

Removed(i) whether the arrangements proposed by Moldova are expected to effectively prevent, detect and correct irregularities, fraud, corruption and conflicts of interest, organised crime and money laundering as well as to effectively investigate and prosecute criminal offences affecting the funds under the Facility,;

Removed(j) whether the Reform Agenda effectively reflects the input of relevant stakeholders, including Moldova’s parliament, local and regional representative bodies and authorities, social partners and civil society organisations.

Removed5. For the purpose of the assessment of the Reform Agenda submitted by Moldova, the Commission may be assisted by independent experts.

RemovedCommission Implementing Decision

Removed1. In case of positive assessment, after informing the European Parliament and the Council, the Commission shall approve by means of an implementing decision the Reform Agenda submitted by Moldova, in accordance with Article 12 or, where applicable, of the amended Agenda submitted in accordance with Article 14. The provisions of Article 25(2) shall apply to the adoption of that implementing decision.

Removed2. The Commission implementing decision, referred to in paragraph 1, shall set out the reforms to be implemented by Moldova concerned, the investment areas to be supported and the payment conditions stemming from the Reform Agenda, including the timetable.

Removed3. The Commission implementing decision, referred to in paragraph 1, shall also lay down:

Removed(a) the indicative amount of overall funds available to Moldova against fulfilment of payment conditions, as referred in Article 10(1), and the scheduled instalments to be released, including pre-financing, structured in accordance with Article 11, once Moldova has achieved satisfactory fulfilment of the relevant payment conditions in the form of qualitative and quantitative steps identified in relation to the implementation of the Reform Agenda;

Removed(b) the breakdown by instalment of financing between loan support and non-repayable support;

Removed(c) the time limit by which the final payment conditions for the reforms must be completed;

Removed(d) the arrangements and timetable for the monitoring, reporting and implementation of the Reform Agenda, including, where appropriate, through democratic scrutiny as referred to in Article 4 as well as, where relevant, measures necessary for complying with Article 23.

Removed(e) the indicators referred to in Article 11(2) for assessing progress towards the achievement of the general and specific objectives set out in Article 3.

RemovedAmendments to the Reform Agenda

Removed1. Where the Reform Agenda, including relevant payment conditions, is no longer achievable by Moldova, either partially or totally, because of objective circumstances, Moldova may propose an amended Reform Agenda. In that case, Moldova may make a reasoned request to the Commission to amend its implementing decision referred to in Article 13(1).

Removed2. The Commission, after informing the European Parliament and the Council, may amend the implementing decision, in particular to take into account a change of the amounts available in line with the principles under Article 19.

Removed3. Where the Commission considers that the reasons put forward by Moldova justify an amendment to its Reform Agenda, the Commission shall assess the amended Agenda in accordance with Article 12 and may amend the implementing decision referred to in Article 13(1) without undue delay.

Removed4. In an amendment, the Commission may accept timelines for payment conditions extending until 31 December 2028.

RemovedLoan agreement, borrowing and lending operations

Removed1. In order to finance the support under the Facility in the form of loans, the Commission shall be empowered on behalf of the Union to borrow the necessary funds on the capital markets or from financial institutions in accordance with Article 224 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509.

Removed2. The Commission shall enter into a loan agreement with Moldova. The loan agreement shall lay down the maximum loan amount, the availability period and the detailed terms and conditions of the support under the Facility in the form of loans. The loans shall have maximum duration of 40 years from the date of the signature of the loan agreement. The loan agreement shall contain the amount of pre-financing and rules on clearing of pre-financing.

RemovedIn addition to and by way of derogation from Article 220(5) of the Financial Regulation, the loan agreement shall contain the amount of pre-financing and rules on clearing of pre-financing.

Removed2a The Commission shall provide the European Parliament and the Council, simultaneously, with the following information:

Removed(a) the amount of the loan in EUR;

Removed(b) the average maturity of the loan;

Removed(c) the pricing formula, and the availability period of the loan;

Removed(d) the maximum number of instalments and a clear and precise repayment schedule.

Removed3. The loan agreement shall be made available, simultaneously and without delay, to the European Parliament and the Council.

RemovedProvisioning

Removed1. Provisioning for the loans shall be constituted at the rate of 9 % from the envelope allocated to the emerging challenges and priorities cushion under Article 6(3) of Regulation (EU) 2021/947 and shall be used as part of provisions supporting similar risks.

Removed2. By way of derogation from Article 211 (2), last sentence, of the Financial Regulation, the provisioning shall be paid progressively and fully constituted at the latest when the loans are fully disbursed.

Removed3. The provisioning rate shall be reviewed at least every three years from the date of application of this Regulation. The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article xx [on exercise of the delegation] of this Regulation to amend the provisioning rates, following the principles laid down in Article 214(2) of Regulation (EU) 2024/2509.

RemovedPre-financing

Removed1. Following the submission of the Reform Agenda to the Commission, Moldova may request the release of a pre-financing of up to 20 % of the total amount foreseen under this Facility in accordance with Article 6(1), after deduction of complementary support, including support to civil society organisations and technical assistance, and provisioning for loans. Financing under this Article may be granted in addition to and during the same period of exceptional bridge financing granted under Article 17a.

Removed2. The Commission may release the requested pre-financing after the adoption of its implementing decision referred to in Article 13 and the entry into force of the Facility Agreement and of the loan agreement referred to in Articles 8 and 15 respectively. The funds shall be released in accordance with Article 19(3), first sentence, and subject to the respect of the preconditions set out in Article 5.

Removed3. The Commission shall decide on the timeframe for the disbursement of the pre-financing, which may be disbursed in one or more tranches.

RemovedExceptional bridge financing

Removed1. Without prejudice to Article 17, if the Facility Agreement is not signed or the Reform

RemovedAgenda is not adopted by 1 May 2025, the Commission may decide to provide limited, exceptional support to Moldova in the form of loans for a period of up to 4 months starting from [the date of entry into force of the Regulation], subject to satisfactory progress on the preparation of the Reform Agenda, subject to conditions to be agreed in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Commission and Moldova, to the respect of the precondition set out in Article 5(1), to compliance with Article 6 and to available funding.

Removed2. The MoU shall in particular establish policy conditions, indicative financial planning and the reporting requirements, proportionate to the duration of the financing. The policy conditions shall include a commitment to the principles of sound financial management with a focus on anti-corruption and anti-money laundering.

RemovedThe MoU shall be adopted and amended by means of implementing acts. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 27.

Removed3. The amount of support referred to in paragraph 1 shall not exceed EUR 50 000 000. The Commission shall enter into a loan agreement with Moldova, which shall comply as appropriate with Article 15.

RemovedImplementation of investment projects under the Neighbourhood Investment Platform

Removed1. In order to benefit from the leverage of Union financial support to attract additional investment, investments supporting the Reform Agenda shall be implemented in cooperation with international financial institutions in the form of investment projects approved under the Neighbourhood Investment Platform.

Removed2. Following satisfactory fulfilment of payment conditions, the Commission will adopt a decision authorising a release of funds, as referred to in Article 19(3). This decision shall, in accordance with Article 6(1), set the amount of funds to be made available in the form of non-repayable support provided by the Union for projects approved under the NIP, and the amount of financial assistance in the form of loan support to be released to Moldova. This decision shall also set out, in accordance with the ratio set in the Facility Agreement as referred to in Article 8(5)(c), the share of this loan support to be made available by Moldova as co-financing for projects approved under the NIP.

RemovedAssessment of the fulfilment of payment conditions, withholding and reduction of funds, rules on payments

Removed1. Twice per year, Moldova shall submit a duly justified request for the release of funds at the latest two months after the timeline set in the Commission Implementing Decision in respect of fulfilled payment conditions related to the quantitative and qualitative steps as set out in the Reform Agenda.

Removed2. The Commission shall assess without undue delay whether Moldova has met the preconditions set out in Article 5 and the principles for financing set out in Article 10(3) and achieved satisfactory fulfilment of the payment conditions set out in the Commission implementing decision referred to in Article 13. In case the Commission finds that payment conditions for which it had previously paid have been reversed by Moldova, the Commission will reduce future disbursements by an equivalent amount. The Commission may be assisted by experts, including experts from Member States. In the event that a request for the release of funds or a request for payment includes a step related to Chapter 32, referred to in Article 19(2), the Commission may not adopt a decision authorizing the release of funds unless it assesses such step positively.

Removed3. Where the Commission makes a positive assessment of the satisfactory fulfilment of all applicable conditions, it shall adopt without undue delay a decision authorising the release of funds corresponding to those conditions. In respect of those amounts, the decision shall constitute the condition referred to in Article 10.

Removed4. Where the Commission makes a negative assessment of the fulfilment of any conditions as per the timetable, the release of funds corresponding to such conditions shall be withheld. The withheld amounts shall be released only when Moldova has duly justified, as part of the subsequent request for release of funds, that it has taken the necessary measures to ensure satisfactory fulfilment of the corresponding conditions.

Removed5. Where the Commission concludes that Moldova has not taken the necessary measures within a period of 12 months from the initial negative assessment referred to in paragraph 4, the Commission shall reduce the amount of the non-repayable financial support and of the loan proportionately to the part corresponding to the relevant payment conditions. During the first year of implementation, a deadline of 24 months shall apply, calculated from the initial negative assessment referred to in paragraph 4. Moldova may present its observations within two months from the communication to them of the Commission’s conclusions.

Removed6. Any amount corresponding to payment conditions that have not been fulfilled by 31 December 2028 shall not be due to Moldova and shall be decommitted, or cancelled from the available amount of loan support, as appropriate.

Removed7. The Commission may reduce the amount of the non-repayable financial support and recover from Moldova, including by offsetting, any amount spent to achieve the objectives of the Facility, or to reduce the amount of the loan to be disbursed to Moldova or request early repayment of the loan in accordance with the loan agreement, in the event of funds unduly paid, identified cases of, or serious concerns in relation to, irregularities, fraud, corruption and conflicts of interest affecting the financial interests of the Union that have not been corrected by Moldova, or of a reversal of qualitative or quantitative steps or in cases it is found, after the payment has taken place, that steps were not satisfactorily fulfilled, or of a serious breach of an obligation resulting from the Facility Agreements or from the loan agreements-, including on the basis of information provided by OLAF or of the Court of Auditors’ reports. The Commission shall inform the European Parliament and the Council prior to taking any decision of such reductions.

Removed8. By way of derogation from Article 116(2) of the Financial Regulation, the payment deadline as referred to in Article 116(1), point (a), of the Financial Regulation shall start running from the date of the communication of the decision authorising the disbursement to Moldova pursuant to paragraph 3 of this Article.

Removed9. Article 116(5) of the Financial Regulation shall not apply to payments made as financial assistance, channelled directly to Moldova’s treasury pursuant to this Article and to Article 23 of this Regulation.

Removed10. Payments of the non-repayable financial support and of the loans under this Article shall be made in accordance with the budget appropriations, as set in the annual budgetary procedure, and subject to the available funding, respectively. Funds shall be paid in instalments. An instalment may be paid in one or more tranches.