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The legislature has held only one sitting in this period and examined several draft legislative documents which challenged controversial and long debates. Drafts on amendment of the education law were among them.

I. Laws on amendment of the education law

Commentary by ADEPT: The laws adopted by Parliament introduced new regulations on:

1. Creation of institutions of higher learning by Moldova's president.

This law allows the Moldovan president to decide on executive's proposals to create, reorganise or close up state-owned institutions of higher learning, as well as institutions of scientific researches, and staff training institutions. Also, the president was empowered to approve the statute of educational institution of the Moldovan presidential administration.

The law also entrusts the chief of state to appoint the rector of the institution of higher learning of the Moldovan presidential administration, while the university senate selects the rectors of other state-owned universities on basis of a contest, while the Government confirms them in offices.

2. Modernisation of higher education and its readjustment to the process of integration in the European education.

The law adopted after controversial debates comprises a number of norms aimed to readjust the higher education system of Moldova to the European education requirements, and adhesion to the so-called "Bologna Process" in 2005.

Thus, the law calls for organisation of higher education in two cycles: 3-4-year higher education for bachelor's degree and 1-2-year higher education for master's degree, and mandatory introduction of the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) in all the institutions of higher learning.

Also, it calls for reorganisation of medical and pharmaceutical education through specialized higher education and post-university resident education.

It is presumed that organisation of higher education on cycles of studies will ensure the readjustment of the Moldovan higher education system to the education system within the European Higher Education Space. The introduction of ECTS will ensure the comparability and knowledge within an education study, regardless of the education institution of students.

Organisation of higher education on cycles of studies ensures a better coverage of needs of education, elimination of very narrowed specialties, development of jobs affected by a deficit of specialized staff and necessary from economic and cultural points of view, development of new qualifications in compliance with requirements of current times and of perspective of the labour market.

Under the law, the post-university education ensures specialization in the area or extension and improvement of scientific and pedagogical education. Admission in post-graduation education will be based on the following:

1. contest for doctor's degree, studies after doctor's degree, and specialized courses;
2. training courses at the request.

The post-graduation specialized studies will last at least one year, in dependence of profile, and they welcome graduates who hold master's degree.

The post-graduation training courses last maximum one year, in dependence of profile, and they welcome graduates who hold bachelor's degree or master's degree in higher education.

II. Law on annulment of penalties and interest rates of the enterprise Combustibil Solid

Commentary by ADEPT: a law adopted by Parliament annulled 11,300 U.S. dollars in interest rate and 182,100 dollars in penalties, calculated and unpaid by the joint stock society Combustibil-Solid for credits offered to buy coal from the loan released by a German bank to Moldova.

The explanation of this exemption rests with the failure of the Finance Ministry to honour payments towards Combustibil-Solid for coal supplied to the social sector, so that the company was unable to honour its payment obligations for the credit.

Representatives of the parliamentary opposition did not warm this draft, fearing that many shortcomings and breaches were registered when the coal contracted on basis of credit was distributed, and this harmed the state budget, and warned that the exemption accepted by Parliament may generate such unwanted phenomenons in future.