Moldovan Constitutional Court approves referendum on European integration

CHISINAU. April 16 (Interfax) - The Moldovan Constitutional Court has approved draft constitutional amendments on European integration, Court President Domnica Manole said at a press briefing on Tuesday, adding that the country's parliament could now schedule a corresponding referendum.

Forty-six MPs of the ruling Party of Action and Solidarity made the enquiry with the Constitutional Court, which responded that the initiative complied with the constitution, including the limits of its revision.

Referendum participants will be asked, "Do you support Moldova's accession to the European Union?" It is proposed that the referendum be held on October 20.

The bill adds two phrases to the constitution's preamble, namely, "reaffirming the European identity of the people of the Republic of Moldova" and "declaring European integration as a strategic goal of the Republic of Moldova."

The constitution will also have a new section, "European Integration," including an article "on accession to the founding treaties and acts revising the founding treaties of the European Union." According to this article, "the accession of the Republic of Moldova to the founding treaties of the European Union, as well as accession to the acts revising the founding treaties of the European Union are established by parliament by organic law."

The article says that, "following accession to the founding treaties of the EU, as well as other binding provisions of the Union, these provisions take precedence over conflicting provisions of internal laws, subject to the provisions of the instrument of accession."

In December 2023, Moldovan President Maia Sandu proposed to hold the referendum simultaneously with the presidential election for the sake of a higher voter turnout. Shortly after this, parliament amended the Election Code to allow the holding of the referendum on the same day as the election.

The bill on constitutional amendments envisages that the amendments will take effect after the Official Monitor publishes the Constitutional Court ruling on the recognition of the constitutional referendum's results.