Successful start of bilateral screening an incentive to speed up progress in reforms, says Marichikj in Brussels
Skopje, 11 November 2022 (MIA) – We had an excellent start to the bilateral screening, with clear and well-prepared presentations, recognized also by the European Commission experts, said Deputy PM for European Affairs and Chief Negotiator with the European Union, Bojan Marichikj, after the first meeting of the bilateral screening in Brussels on Friday, within Chapter 5 – Public Procurement from the Fundamentals cluster.
“In addition to the detailed presentations we made in the field of the legal and institutional framework for Public Procurement of the Republic of North Macedonia, we also answered to questions of the Commission and showed a high level of readiness. This is an incentive for us to move forward and complete the screening meetings as quickly and successfully as possible. It will give us a complete picture of how successful we are, where we still have a lot of work to do, and also the time frame in which we can conclude the negotiations. We have a lot of energy, we have a lot of knowledge and we are working hard to reach the goal set– European Union membership by 2030,” said Deputy PM Marichikj.
As Chief Negotiator with the European Union, Marichikj is heading the Macedonian negotiating team to the first meeting of the bilateral screening, also attended by Deputy Negotiator and State Secretary Drita Abdiu-Halili and Zulfi Ismaili, Ambassador in the Permanent Mission of North Macedonia to the EU, based in Brussels.
Members of the Chapter 5 working group presented the Macedonian legislative framework to the European Commission experts and the level of alignment with the EU law.
The Ministry of Finance’s Public Procurement Bureau is the competent institution for this chapter, and the working group is led by the Bureau’s state advisor Aleksandar Argirovski.
The explanatory screenings of North Macedonia and Albania developed in parallel but the countries are now separated for the bilateral screening.
According to the EC calendar, the screening process for the Republic of North Macedonia is expected to last until November 2023.
