Date: 2018-11-28
Mr President, honourable Members, dear rapporteur, dear Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, and especially dear Minister, dear Ambassador. Let me begin by recalling the Council conclusions of last June where the Council decided to respond positively to the progress made by the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and set out the path towards opening accession negotiations in June 2019. We welcome the European Commission's necessary preparatory work. The country has overcome its deep political crises, including through the continued implementation of the Prespa Agreement, and has made substantial progress on the urgent reform priorities. This is extremely important for the country's further progress. Let me emphasise that even in the difficult political context, the government has taken significant steps to gradually restore a culture of compromise. It has reached out to all stakeholders, including the opposition, to strengthen democracy and the rule of law and to show a genuine desire to reform in an inclusive and transparent manner. We welcome the changes in the tenor of atmosphere in the country. We also welcome the first concrete progress towards the restoration of the independence of the judiciary, the improvement of the work of the courts, and a follow-up to the work of the Special Prosecutor's office, which has started to reverse the backsliding of previous years. Let me here recall the need to find a suitable, sustainable solution for the continuation of the work of the Special Prosecutor's office. Moreover, we share your calls for the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to intensify efforts to properly implement the judicial reform strategy and to make further efforts to address the outstanding recommendations. Sustained efforts are needed to ensure implementation of all commitments and to ensure that the judiciary can function independently. The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has achieved progress on the EU reform agenda and continues its efforts. We encourage it to deepen the reform momentum further, in particular showing real results in key rule of law areas such as the fight against corruption and organised crime, where it needs to further deliver. The institutions in charge of preventing and fighting corruption must have the necessary autonomy and the financial and human resources. The government must also implement other reforms, such as the reform of the intelligence and security services, and of the public administration. The EU will continue to follow these efforts very closely. We take note of the adoption of the public administration reform strategy and the public financial management reform programme and look forward to their implementation. We encourage the government to continue to deepen the current reform momentum, including through Plan 18. We welcome the intention to continue working with the opposition parties, civil society and other stakeholders. Therefore, a constructive dialogue between all actors is required. We urge all parliamentary parties to put their divisions aside and work jointly on the common strategic goal of EU integration for the benefit of all citizens. The implementation of the name agreement is one major step in this regard. Moreover, we welcome the holding of the Jean Monnet Dialogue, initiated by the European Parliament, aimed at improving the atmosphere and culture of compromise among the members of the Assembly as well as the work of the Assembly. We join you in applauding the country for reaching out to its neighbours in the spirit of good neighbourly relations. In particular, the conclusion of the Treaty on Friendship, Good Neighbourliness and Cooperation with Bulgaria, and the signature of the agreement on the name issue with Greece, have demonstrated the government's determination to resolve all outstanding bilateral issues and build good neighbourly relations with all countries in the region. Let me finally welcome the continued active participation and the constructive approach of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in different regional initiatives. Together these have contributed to an improved regional context.