Skopje, 19 September 2022 (MIA) - In the period ahead, we need to focus on meeting European requests and standards to reform the public administration and improve the professionalism of civil servants, Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs and Chief Negotiator Bojan Marichikj said Monday in an opening address at the explanatory screening on public administration reform. This area, he said, will be important for North Macedonia's progress toward EU accession and yet another challenge in the Fundamentals cluster and public administration professionalism is key to meet tasks on the European path and to create an administration in quality service of the needs of the citizens. According to Marichikj, the fact that public administration reform is specially defined as an area and is part of the basics in the Fundamentals cluster points out to the significance and importance it will have for the whole negotiations process. "We're very well aware that undoubtedly it will be of key importance for the dynamic of the negotiations as a whole. Modernization and improvement of state and public administration should be considered a foundation of the whole public sector on which the development of every democratic society depends on," Marichikj underscored at the meeting. In his capacity as chief negotiator, Marichikj gave an overview of the work done so far in this area, noting that political support is extended through the Council of Public Administration Reform, chaired by the prime minister. He mentioned that a working group for the preparation of a new strategy for public administration reform covering the period 2023-2030 been set up, consisting of representatives of all involved parties and state institutions and the civil sector. "At the moment, we're working on the strategy's text and in October, we'll focus on new activities that will be part of the action plan. These two documents will be adopted by the end of the year," Marichikj said in his address before European Commission officials. In September, he added, the Ministry of Information Society and Administration published bills on the law on employees in the public sector - a framework law regulating the foundation and principles of public sector employees and the law on civil servants. The Deputy PM said he expected both laws to be adopted by the end of the year. The Fundamentals cluster is significant because it includes areas that are part of the accession negotiations for the first time, including functioning of democratic institutions, public administration and economic criteria, the Secretariat for European Affairs said. An explanatory screening meeting on public administration reform is under way in Brussels. An explanatory meeting on chapter 32 - Financial Control - is due later today.