It currently has 81 full-time employees, with a further 15 people working under special contracts. The Ministry is also the parent body for the State Environmental Inspectorate, the Agency for Environmental Protection and Nature Protection and Promotion, and the Fund for Environment and Nature Protection and Promotion. The Agency for Environmental Protection and Nature Protection and Promotion is expected to become independent during 2001. Several other Government ministries and state agencies have some degree of environmental authority. This distribution of environmental responsibilities is a product of frequent institutional restructuring that has delayed policy implementation and often added little discernible benefit.
Water policy is a case in point.
Responsibility for water is held by four ministries, each of which implement laws relevant to water policy. A clear division of responsibility is needed in order to address the significant challenges of establishing proper wastewater treatment and maintaining adequate water infrastructure. Similar inefficiencies exist in monitoring. The integration of related policy areas and functions would streamline decision-making, enhance effectiveness, and maximize the value of scarce resources. In the last several years, FYR of Macedonia has entered a number of significant international, regional and bi-lateral conventions and agreements.