OREANDA-NEWS. June 28, 2011. Prime Minister Vlad Filat today chaired a meeting of the governmental commission for European Integration, the government's communications and press relations department has said.

The participants in the meeting discussed the start of the talks with the European Commission on the signing on an agreement on Moldova's accession to the Single European Sky, the current stage of implementation of the European Commission's key-recommendations on the creation of a deep and comprehensive free trade area, as well as the current level of implementation of the action plan on the liberalization of the visa regime.

Talking about the start of the negotiations on the signing of the agreement on Moldova's accession to the Single European Sky, Transport and Road Infrastructure Minister Anatol Salaru said that first round of talks will take place in late July. He added that presently, the relevant bodies are compiling the list of negotiators on Moldova's behalf. Salaru suggested that representatives of the air companies and of civil society should take part in negotiations as well, having a consultative function.

Deputy Prime Minister, Economics Minister Valeriu Lazar, said that the second progress report on the creation of a deep and comprehensive free trade area is presently being worked out. The report is almost completed, due to be unveiled on 30 July. The minister said that several fields that need special attention had been identified, mentioning that foreign assistance is necessary in this respect.

For his part, Deputy Agriculture and Food Minister, Viorel Gutu, said that a strategy for food safety had been elaborated in consistency with the European Commission's recommendations on the creation of a deep and comprehensive free trade area. Gutu said that the relevant bodies have encountered a string of problems while elaborating the aforementioned blueprint. Among them are: multilateral and fragmented legislation, a high number of control bodies, and the lack of a control and monitoring system of foodstuff processing. In this respect, the deputy minister stressed that it is necessary to create a single institution that would deal with the food safety. The strategy is to be submitted to the relevant bodies and to the European Commission, and approved by the government by August 2011.

Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign and European Integration Minister Iurie Leanca, said that the national programme of implementation the action plan on the liberalization of the visa regime is being carried out in line with the assumed commitments. Leanca said that the working group dealing with this issue held its last meeting on 22 June, during which the steps due to be further taken had been outlined. The deputy premier said that eight draft laws are being presently examined at the Interior Ministry, Justice Ministry, Border Guard Service and the Centre for Combating Economic Crimes and Corruption. The draft laws are to be submitted to the government within two weeks, starting from 22 June. The minister also said that five legislative acts, among which a law on foreigners' integration and some amendments and completions to the Penal Code are presently under elaboration.

Leanca also spoke about the holding of a tender meant to select a company that will issue biometric passports. In the context, the minister said that the selection committee is made up of representatives of the Foreign and European Integration Ministry, Information Technology and Communications Ministry and Finance Ministry. As many as 21 companies participate in the contest announced in April. The government is to compile soon the list of those who will participate in the tender.

Prime Minister Vlad Filat expressed satisfaction with the way in which the dialogue with the EU is being held, noting that all the actions are being carried out in due time.

"We are set to carry out some actions ahead of time, so as to have more time in the implementation stage. We will further focus on the steps due to be taken and I am sure that we will succeed," the premier said.

Filat voiced hope that the talks on the signing of a deep and comprehensive free trade agreement will be launched after the Summit of the Eastern Partnership due in Warsaw in September.

Talking about public acquisitions, the premier said that the under the law on public acquisitions, the government is entitled to establish the same conditions for the enterprises holding the monopoly or having no competition in their activity. Filat said that the government is to identify the aforementioned companies at the next meeting, so that all the acquisitions undergo the public acquisitions' process in the future.