On June 24 26, 2010 ECNL signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Moldova. The memorandum was signed by the Minister Alexandru Tanase and ECNL's Executive Director Nilda Bullain.
The overall objective of the document is to create synergies and enhance efforts for enabling environment for NGOs. By signing the document, the parties agreed to cooperate and share information on the legal initiatives concerning NGOs over the course of the three-year Moldova Civil Society Strengthening Project.
The memorandum identified priority areas for cooperation, such as provisions on public benefit organizations, capacity-building and technical assistance to the Ministry. ECNL committed to providing comparative materials and technical assistance for developing and implementing NGO related legislation. The Ministry agreed to share drafts of the laws and ensuring a participatory process in drafting legislation.
MCSSP is a three-year effort funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by Academy for Educational Development (AED). The purpose of the program is to strengthen representative democracy in Moldova through support for a constituent-driven, financially viable civil society sector. The program objective of strengthening the legal and fiscal framework for CSOs is implemented by the European Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ECNL) with the support of AED and seeks reforms in six priority areas: Civic Associations; Public Utility Organizations; Fiscal Framework for CSOs; possible enactment of the draft “Percentage Law”; Government Contracting of Services; and Volunteerism.