News
11/8/2022 03:24
The Deputy Prime Minister in charge of European affairs, Bojan Maricik, today attended the presentation of the EU project: "Technical Assistance for improving the enabling environment for Civil Society Organisations in the Republic of North Macedonia", where he emphasized that the support from the European Union for Macedonian civil society organizations is crucial for the implementation of the reform agenda and for the progress of the negotiation process.
He emphasized that as a representative of the Government and the current chief negotiator, he is fully aware of the key role of civil society in the negotiation process and for that reason, within the Decision to establish a negotiation structure for the accession of the Republic of North Macedonia to the European Union, an opportunity is foreseen in for representatives of civil society to participate in the working groups.
- The government continuously takes systemic measures to build cooperation and transparent and fully inclusive dialogue with civil society organizations. We consider them an equal partner and corrector of our decisions, with full right to participate in policy-making, said Deputy Prime Minister Maricik before the Head of cooperation department of the EU Delegation, Steffen Hudolin, and representatives of civil society organizations.
Deputy Prime Minister Maricik also informed that a call for a necessary refresh of the initial mapping of civil society organizations interested in inclusion in the clusters/chapters is in the final stage of opening.
- The Secretariat for European Affairs will continue to provide a sound basis for the participation of civil society organizations in the processes it manages and then contribute to even greater democratization of our country, Deputy Prime Minister Maricik said.
As a person who comes from the civil society sector, Maricik believes that it is in the common interest for civil society organizations to be active and their work to produce positive results in local communities because that way citizens will feel the benefits of the transformation and Europeanization of society.
The EU's Citizens' Resilience Mechanism (CRM) is an in-kind support scheme for small and so-called grassroots organizations serving local communities across the country. The EU allocated 900,000 euros to support activities proposed and implemented by civil society organizations. Each successful applicant can receive the support of up to 20,000 euros, and the activities are expected to start in January 2023. The in-kind support scheme is implemented within the framework of the EU-funded project "Technical Assistance for improving the enabling environment for Civil Society Organisations in the Republic of North Macedonia", and the project has been operating since the end of 2020 which has already delivered significant assistance to the Government institutions responsible for cooperation and civil society support.