Nordic Support for Progress of
North Macedonia
The
Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency has decided to fund a
project “Nordic Support for Progress of North Macedonia” to be implemented by
the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS). The objective of the
project supported by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency
(SIDA) is to support the enhancement of the EU integration capacity of the
Republic of North Macedonia by providing technical assistance to government
institutions during the accession period.
SIDA has
allocated funding for the implementation of the project in Macedonia during 24
months.
The
Overall Objective of the SIDA support is to contribute to, and effectively
communicate to the public, the implementation of the Stabilisation and
Association Agreement, accession negotiations and government reform priorities
in the Republic of North Macedonia.
Project
interventions are aimed towards communicating the benefits of the EU accession
process to the general population, as well as to involve the civil society and
media throughout the accession phases. All project activities will be
undertaken in partnership with the Government of Macedonia, in cooperation with
the national institutions, with the aim of allowing them to adopt/adapt the
legal requirements and, where relevant, EU accession criteria.
This
will ensure national ownership and support the development of national
capacities.
Background Information – relevant
for the assignment
The
purpose of Result 1 “Supporting the government reform agenda in the accession
process” is to provide support to relevant national is to contribute to further
building of capacities of the central coordination structures for the accession
process and relevant national authorities.
Within
the framework of the political and reform processes, Macedonian government
commenced with preparations for accession negotiations, and activated its
coordination structures for EU integration.
In July
2018, the Government announced the concept of the Negotiation Platform (NP),
and appointed Deputy Prime Minister in charge of European Affairs as Chief
Political Negotiator and Head of State Delegation for Negotiations with the EU,
and the Special Advisor for Euro-Atlantic integrations in the Office of the
Prime Minister as Chief Technical Negotiator and Head of the Technical
Negotiations Team. Consultations on establishment of the negotiation platform
and structures are on-going.
The key
actors in the accession process are:
- Cabinet of the Deputy Prime Minister
for EU Affairs, head of Secretariat for
European Affairs (SEA);
- Special Advisor for Euro-Atlantic
integrations in the Office of the Prime Minister as Chief Technical Negotiator;
- Secretariat for European Affairs
(SEA);
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA);
- Parliamentary Committee for European
Affairs (CEA).
The
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) via its Directorate for EU, coordinates the
external dimension of the EU accession negotiations. The MFA, through the
Mission of the country to the EU, is responsible for the political part of the
accession negotiation process, and proper representing of country’s position in
international dimension. MFA supports foreign policy aspect of the accession
negotiations, with regards to the political dialogue, regional cooperation,
contractual arrangements with the EU and the member states and candidate
countries.
The
project will provide consultancy support in conducting the needs assessment of
MFA, through outsourced expertise/consultancy. Based on the assessment findings
and recommendations, the project team will design and implement a tailor-made
training curriculum/capacity building project that will be provided to the MFA
by the consultancy, and will be aimed at bridging the recorded gaps, and
further developing existing competencies and knowledge for accession process.