Moldova hosts German Bundestag delegation and Venice Commission review of parliamentary reforms

On 16–17 July, a delegation from the German Bundestag visited the Republic of Moldova. Led by Raimond Scheirich and including deputies Bettina Hagedorn and Julian Joswig, the group met with Parliament President Igor Grosu, Vice‑Prime Minister Valeriu Chiveri and members of the German‑Moldovan parliamentary friendship group. They discussed Germany’s backing of Moldova’s EU‑integration trajectory and explored expanding cooperation in trade, investment, information‑and‑communication technologies, innovation, manufacturing, logistics, tourism, defence capacity building, army modernisation, secure communications and internal affairs.

At the same time, a team of rapporteurs from the Venice Commission carried out a fact‑finding mission in Moldova during the same dates. The commission examined the draft Code on the Organisation and Functioning of Parliament, meeting the draft’s authors, legal and European‑integration committees, government officials, opposition and majority MPs, judges, and civil‑society representatives. Approved in a first reading in May, the code proposes limits on party‑switching, caps on speaking time, a dedicated “voting hour” and other measures intended to modernise parliamentary procedures and align them with European standards, drawing criticism from the opposition.