The second round of negotiations on an association agreement between Moldova and the EU was held in Brussels on 25-26 March. The EU delegation was headed by the EU s chief negotiator and Director for Eastern Europe, Southern Caucasus, Central Asian, DG-RELEX, European Commission, Gunnar Wiegand, and the Moldovan delegation by the chief negotiator and Deputy Foreign Minister, Natalia Gherman.

The negotiating groups were welcomed by Prime Minister Vlad Filat.

During the plenary meeting, the sides assessed the negotiating process that took place between the first and second rounds within a string of video linkups. The sides agreed on and provisionally closed most articles concerning person-to-person relations. Also, part of the articles concerning economic, sectoral and financial cooperation was provisionally closed as well. The sides reached high-degree convergence in the negotiations on the protection of consumers, public healthcare, statistics and informational society.

During the same meeting, Moldova and the EU launched negotiations on political dialogue, reform, cooperation in common foreign and security policy; justice, freedom and security, economic, sectoral and financial cooperation, cooperation and person-to-person relations.

The state based on the rule of law, personal data protection, fight against money laundering, terrorism financing and drugs trafficking, as well as cooperation in common foreign and security policy, prevention and settlement of conflicts and crisis management were among the most important issues discussed at the meeting. In the context, the sides laid particular emphasis on the coverage of cooperation in the process of settling the Transnistrian conflict.

At the end of the second round, the sides welcomed the positive dynamics and constructivism of talks and agreed to hold the third round in Chisinau in the first decade of June 2010.