This article analyzes the impact of the EU on reform outcomes in Moldova. It looks at the EU strategies in two sectors with varying outcomes in order to study how they reinforce or help to mitigate domestic problems. It focuses on the interplay of external and domestic factors and highlights the importance of empowerment of non-state domestic actors/civil society and flexibility in rule-making in order to prevent institutional monocropping and to level the playing field to limit the power of entrenched elites.