News
9/26/2022 06:56
The Deputy Prime Minister in charge of European affairs, Bojan Maricik at today's explanatory screening meeting on "Functioning of democratic institutions", in his opening address said that this is an area of essential importance for every democratic society and that it will require maximum commitment to reform agenda that will help accelerate progress in this important area.
The Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs and Chief Negotiator Maricik emphasized at the meeting that North Macedonia has made enormous progress in recent years, especially in terms of the rule of law and the return of democracy by building strong and functional institutions that work on the principles of accountability, transparency and inclusiveness which successfully responded to the setback noted in the last European Commission Report.
- In the past several election cycles, we have demonstrated the ability to organize fair and competitive elections as confirmed by the OSCE/ODIHR. Regarding the electoral reform, several amendments were made to the Electoral Code in order to address the recommendations pending from the OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Reports, as well as the recommendations and best practices of the Venice Commission, Maricik emphasized, adding that the continuation of the electoral reform is among priorities as Government, through an inclusive and transparent new Electoral Code.
Deputy Prime Minister Maricik once again stressed to the representatives of the European Commission that it is important in North Macedonia to have a national consensus on the accession process and that the opposition should play a constructive role in fulfilling our strategic goal of full membership.
- The Assembly improved its role as the primary forum for constructive political dialogue. All parties contributed to two successful rounds of the Jean Monnet dialogue with the European Parliament. This cooperation is highly appreciated as is the continuous support of our efforts to further strengthen the role of the Parliament. With the adoption of the negotiation structure, we anticipate a key role for the Commission for European Affairs and the National Council for European Integration, in the process of adopting the harmonized legislation and organizing debates and consultations on reforms related to the EU, Maricik pointed out.
Today, the explanatory screening meeting was held for another area that is being introduced for the first time in the accession negotiations - "Functioning of democratic institutions", within the framework of the "Foundations" cluster, which is a basic value on which the European Union functions.
Tomorrow there will be a screening meeting for Chapter 23 "Justice and Fundamental Rights", which concludes the explanatory screening meetings for Cluster 1, Foundations.