Skopje, 11 July 2023 (MIA) - The Parliament's role as a legislative house is crucial in adopting legal solutions that are necessary for the implementation of European reforms, as well as in political responsibility for the country's path to achieving the strategic goal - EU membership, stressed participants in Tuesday's joint session of the National Euro-Integration Council (NEIC) and the Parliament's Committee on European Affairs,  whereat Spanish Ambassador José Luis Lozano García presented the programme and priorities of the Spanish EU Presidency in the period July-December 2023. 

Addressing the session, EU Ambassador David Geer focused on remarks in the area of judiciary reforms and the rule of law. 

"Reforms supported by the EU and other donors are not progressing as they should in many key areas, and in some cases there are even negative developments that we did not expect to see from a country that has started EU accession negotiations," said Geer, adding that the Parliament has a major role to play by unblocking key laws and ensuring the proper functioning of other important institutions.

He pointed out that the Government still needs to develop and adopt a new judiciary reform strategy for the period 2023-2027 that will address the shortcomings in the implementation of relevant laws, some of which, he added, have surfaced with the recent events in the Judicial Council. For this reason, he noted, the EC will deploy peer review mission of the Judicial Council to improve its efficiency and professionalism.

The EU Ambassador also mentioned the draft constitutional amendments that are soon to arrive in the Parliament, noting that it is a sovereign decision for the country, the adoption of which will be an important step that will automatically and without further delay and veto, lead to the holding of the second intergovernmental conference - a key moment on the country's path to EU membership.

"It is important to have an open debate on this issue, to focus on what is at stake and not to discuss past fears and anxieties about the future. I urge the MPs to act with political responsibility and put national interests first, as they see them, to ensure the direction of this country at this crucial time, assessing the opportunities before them and the risks of a delay. We live at a time of enormous uncertainty and enormous challenges, sometimes even existential," Geer said. 

MPs from the ruling majority and the opposition are unanimous that the country should meet the Copenhagen priorities and no additional unprincipled demands should be made by Bulgaria, but still hold different views on the responsibility for the situation in the judiciary, and the constitutional amendments.

Chair of the Committee on European Affairs, Arbr Ademi, said it was clear that this is the condition for holding the second intergovernmental conference and continuing the European path, adding that it is not the most difficult compromise that the country has faced, here mentioning the signing of the Prespa Agreement, the Friendship Treaty with Bulgaria, as well as the negotiating framework.

VMRO-DPMNE MP Ljupcho Prendzhov pointed out that the EC has given the lowest rating for the country in terms of progress in the area of ​​reforms in 2022. According to him, the opposition is constructive in passing the reform laws, and the responsibility for their non-implementation lies with the Government. He reiterated the opposition's stance regarding the constitutional amendments, i.e. that the rule of law is more important at the moment.  

SDSM MP Darko Kaevski noted that the 2022 EC Report has once again supported the country in its European reforms and clearly noted that it has shown commitment in implementing the planned agenda, underlining that currently the greatest imperative is the continuation of the European agenda and consensus for adoption of constitutional amendments.

Commenting on remarks regarding the judiciary, VMRO-DPMNE MP Gordana Siljanovska said the country should not wait for a peer review mission to arrive, but examine the situation here and now because the worst candidates are in the Judicial Council, in the Council of Public Prosecutors, in the regulatory bodies, etc. "If we don't change that, if we don't have the example of the Anti-Corruption Commission and the Anti-Discrimination Commission, in the selection process, we will repeat the same stories over and over again".

In his address, Ambassador García noted that this was the fifth Spanish EU Presidency since the country joined the Union in 1986. He noted that the Presidency priorities include the reindustrialization of the EU and ensuring its open strategic autonomy, advancing the implementation of green transition and environmental adaptation, promoting greater social and economic justice, and strengthening the European unity.

"Spain attaches great importance to the enlargement process, and we will continue to work in this regard during the Presidency according to the principle of merit. For North Macedonia, the opening of accession negotiations in July last year was the most important step. There are other important expectations during this semester. In that context, we reaffirm Spain's support for North Macedonia's EU accession," said Ambassador García, announcing that the EU-Western Balkans Ministerial Forum on Justice and Home Affairs will be held in Skopje on October 26-27.

The Kingdom of Spain took over the rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU from Sweden on July 1, as part of the programme whereby the Swedish Presidency was followed by a new trio of Spain, Belgium and Hungary, which will develop a new joint trio programme for the period from 1 July 2023–31 December 2024. 

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