The Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia in charge of European Affairs Dr. Fatmir Besimi met with the Director-General of the Directorate General for Enlargement of the European Union. The meeting was also attended by the Head of the EU Delegation to the Republic of Macedonia, the Ambassador Aivo Orav.
The main points discussed during the meeting were the level of implementation of the reforms envisaged with High Level Accession Dialogue (HLAD), the use of IPA funds from 2007 to 2013, the establishment of the IPA 2 and the future steps to be taken in terms of meeting the priorities of European integration.
The Deputy Prime Minister Besimi emphasised the key role of the High Level Accession Dialogue on the implementation of the reforms and requested that it continues in the future for maintaining the momentum of the reform process. He added that the efforts continued for improving good neighbourly relations with Greece and Bulgaria in terms of resolving outstanding issues. "The consensual adoption of the amendments to the Electoral Code, the adoption of the reform laws in the public and civil administration as well as the harmonisation of the legal framework for the media in accordance with the requirements of the Association of Journalists of Macedonia, are also an important part of the reforms” – Besimi said, adding that the Working Groups of the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia are actively working on the implementation on the reforms envisaged within the Accession Dialogue.
The Director of the Directorate General for Enlargement of the EU, Danielsson welcomed the progress achieved in meeting the priorities of the European integration and the consensus reached between the political parties on the adopted amendments to the Electoral Code as an important step in this period, because of the forthcoming presidential election, and also welcomed the promotion of the dialogue with journalists for adopting amendments to the Law on Media.
Among other things, at the meeting was discussed the overall coordination of the use of IPA funds and the ways to improve their use. Besimi also pointed out that the Government and the European Commission are working to determine the programme for using new 600 million EUR from IPA 2014-2020 to be used for technical assistance and investment projects in accordance with the process of European integration.