Moldova Roundup: Maternity benefit, EU accession, digital IDs
Maternity benefit
The Moldovan Minister of Labour and Social Protection has announced that pregnant women in the country will no longer be required to submit a file to enjoy maternity benefits. Starting next year, families will receive allowances without a request, based on data collected from the public system, he said on a show on the local channel Agora md. “We work from the point of view that if we have certain data in the public system, it is our responsibility to collect this data,” he is quoted by Agora md.
EU accession
Moldova's President, Maia Sandu, has expressed hope that accession negotiations with the EU will be completed by 2030. According to local media Timpul, the Moldovan President believes the Eastern European nation can become a full EU member due to significant steps taken in less than two years. "We have made commitments from our side because we are in control here, we have to fulfill all commitments and reach European standards by 2030 and we hope that the EU will be ready to accept us," she is quoted by Timpul.
Digital ID cards
The Moldovan Parliament has approved a project to promote electronic services, developed by the Ministry of Economic Development and Digitalization with the support of the Electronic Government Agency. The project will make identity cards, driving licenses, and registration certificates available in digital format, with a digital identity card generated on a holder's phone or tablet, local publication Ziarul de Gardă reports. According to Ziarul de Gardă, the project also proposes the use of unique electronic identifiers for extracts from state registers, allowing electronic verification of document authenticity.
Romania citizenship support
Romania's President, Klaus Iohannis, has passed a law increasing child allowances that also benefits Moldavan children with Romanian citizenship from January 1, 2024. The state allowance will be indexed annually with the average inflation rate. Currently, the state allowance is 631 Romanian lei ($137) for children aged 0 to 2 and 256 lei ($55.9) for those aged 2 to 18. The new allowances will be 718 lei ($156) for children aged 0 to 2 and those disabled up to 18, and 291 lei($63) for those aged 2 to 18, Moldavan national newspaper Ziarul National reported.
German energy investment
The German government plans to invest five million euros in energy efficiency projects in Moldova over the next three years. According to local media IPN the Moldova Minister of energy said, the initiative aims to accelerate the country's decarbonisation agenda, because around 50% of energy consumption in Moldova comes from building maintenance. The funds will be allocated through the German International Cooperation Agency (GIZ Moldova), IPN reports.
