The European Community's right to conclude agreements with third countries establishing joint actions and special cooperation procedures is materialized in the Association Agreements. The European Union has a history and experience of concluding and implementing Association Agreements lasting over fifty years. During this period more than seventy inter-state association agreements have been or are being negotiated. Association Agreements may sometimes be presented as European Agreements, this type of agreement is the most complete of all bilateral international agreements concluded by the European Community with third countries European agreements, which are in fact top-level association agreements, designed specifically for post-Soviet countries in Eastern Europe, have as their final objective the accession of these countries to the European Union. Some of these agreements have already expired, with the signatory states becoming members of the EU. This means that the Association Agreements are an indispensable step in the process of joining the European Union. The signing of the Association Agreement gives the Republic of Moldova the prospect of becoming a member of the EU, provided it obeys the principles of democracy, respects fundamental freedoms, minority rights and guarantees the rule of law.