At Macedonia’s Secretariat for European Affairs on 4 March a twinning project called “Further Strengthening of Organizational and Institutional Capacities for the EU Integration Process” was launched, financed by the EU with EUR 1.7 million. The project will last 21 months and aims to provide an overview of activities done in the last 10 years in order to evaluate Macedonia’s readiness in accordance with all of the acquis chapters as well as identify areas where further efforts are needed. The project will entail more than 500 participants, 11 workshops, study visits and week-long internships.
Participating in the project are the MFEA Centre of Excellence, Germany and Poland. The goal of the project is further support for the EU integration process through capacity building and a more efficient inter-departmental coordination in the accession process. The main purpose is to strengthen capacities in relation to the acquis, better management of the translation process, coordination and monitoring the EU funds as well as improved communication among the ministries and relevant institutions involved in the accession process, all through the exchange of experiences with the EU member states.
The Centre of Excellence – Transition Processes Council has been active since September 2012 and gathers experts that participated in Croatia’s negotiations, offering technical support to countries in the region and beyond.