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EC report on North Macedonia with remarks on reforms, rule of law and corruption

Politiko 2023-11-08 21:44:12

The European Commission's report on North Macedonia contains a number of remarks about reforms in the rule of law. The commission emphasized the lack of progress in the fight against corruption and criticized the polarized parliament that is misusing European integrations for the rapid passage of draft laws that are not related to the reforms of the European Union membership process.

The European Commission also criticized the Macedonian parliament for delaying legal reforms.
"It is excessive and sometimes inappropriate to use fast-track procedures for the 'European Flag' in some cases, due to the lack of consultation and poor planning of the calendar for the implementation of the laws. The 'European flag' should be used when it is directly related to the adoption of laws whose main aim is to adapt to EU law and not for a brief public debate on important issues", the report underlines.

According to the report, the European Commission does not consider that there is a broad political consensus in Skopje for talks on membership in the European Union. Official Brussels also wants to give priority to the inclusion of the Bulgarian minority in the Constitution of North Macedonia.
The European Commission has criticized the institutions of North Macedonia for the dismissal of the head of the Judicial Council, Vesna Dameva, and for the delay in the adoption of the new strategy in the judiciary, calling her dismissal controversial and politically influenced.

"There is no progress in the judiciary. The Judicial Council must be committed to protecting the integrity and independence of judges and institutions and must oppose any external influence," the report states.
The report estimated that North Macedonia has not made progress in preventing and fighting corruption.
"Corruption extends to many areas and is a worrying issue.

Cancellations of court cases related to high-level corruption have been added, which resulted in the expiration of the term of court proceedings in some cases. The Criminal Code was amended by an accelerated parliamentary procedure. The maximum legal penalties for criminal offenses related to corruption were reduced, which caused the cases to become obsolete or their cancellation", the report further states.

The opposition and the government exchanged accusations on Wednesday after numerous remarks in the report. The Macedonian state authorities said that they see the country's future in full membership in the European Union, while the Macedonian opposition has called the report a reflection of the reality "where a government with criminality and corruption rules."/voa