Skopje, 15 September 2022 (MIA) - Thursday marks the official start of the screening process of the alignment of the Macedonian legislation with the EU's. Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs Bojan Marichikj says the screening is in fact a phase of diagnosing where we are and what we should do. He urges that now it is necessary to focus on building consensus on resuming the EU integration, building consensus regarding the constitutional changes and in what way the opposition could engage in the process of negotiations. Speaking to MIA ahead of the start of the screening process in Brussels, Marichikj says he expects the process to conclude in November 2023. As regards the constitutional changes, deemed necessary to open the clusters, the government official says it won't be an easy process at all and that it depends on us when we will resume the EU integration process. Marichikj stresses that the member states, including Bulgaria, are no longer setting any further conditions, adding that the conditions under which the country is holding the negotiations have been clearly defined. He says that the compromise with Bulgaria includes enough guarantees both for our identity and our language, eliminating any chance or occasion for any kind of assimilation or Bulgarization to happen. "First of all, we need to tell the citizens and to repeat that North Macedonia opened negotiations for membership into the European Union. The process was opened on July 19, when in fact the introductory session of the screening took place. It's very important for us to understand that after 17 years in the waiting room, we'd entered a new phase. This phase, the screening, is mandatory in the negotiations. It is nothing new and it is not something that is done only for us. All countries that had recently had or are in the process of negotiations have undergone screening," Marichikj tells MIA. He notes that the screening has two phases - one phase is bilateral and the other is explanatory. "The first one is in fact the introductory as well as explanatory, which we'd partly undergone in 2018 and 2019, meaning we're not starting from scratch, we're resuming where we left off. EU's acts and standards are presented in the explanatory screening that we need to adopt before becoming EU member. It will be followed by a bilateral screening, some of then will take place in parallel. We will have a larger role in the bilateral screening, meaning the EU member countries and the European Commission will ask us the questions and we will be presenting to what extent we are aligned in certain areas, in all areas and how much time we think we need to be fully aligned," Marichikj explains to MIA. According to the Deputy PM, it is estimated that so far the country has reached about 40-percent alignment, which means, as he said, the country used well the past 17 years to prepare while waiting for the negotiations to start, allowing by now North Macedonia to be at the same level or even better than the countries already in negotiations, such as Serbia and Montenegro. "I believe this screening is very important to keep our administration in shape as well as the whole society and the experts in order the civil society, the academic public, the business community to follow the screening and take part in it. It is vital because it depends on the screening how the list of tasks, benchmarks, will look like that will apply for all chapters and all clusters. In fact, the screening is the phase of diagnosing where we are and what we should do," Marichikj says expressing hopes that the screening will end in November 2023. Asked whether some difficulties are expected in certain areas while aligning the legislation and where shortcomings could be detected, Marichikj stresses that there will be a lot of work in the second cluster - Internal Market - as well as in the first one, which is the most important - Fundamentals. "The cluster Fundamentals is the first one to be opened and the last to be closed. It remains opened throughout the negotiations and the progress made in this cluster dictates the progress in other clusters. But, I think we'll have a lot of work in the Internal Market cluster, as well as in Competitiveness and in Green agenda because it is an expensive cluster that requires a lot of investing in the environment and technologies that are considered eco-friendly. The cluster Agriculture contains a very crucial part both for state aid and subsidies and also for the standards in agriculture," the Deputy PM tells MIA. Asked when he expects the procedure for constitutional changes to start, deemed necessary for the opening of clusters, having in mind the referendum initiative launched by VMRO-DPMNE for annulling the treaty with Bulgaria, which has been already dismissed by Parliament Speaker Talat Xhaferi, Marichikj says the process will not be easy at all and it will depend on us when we will resume the EU integration process. "We have a deadline we set ourselves alongside the screening plan, which is to complete the constitutional changes by the end of the screening in November 2023, basically by the end of next year. I believe we will succeed in this. It won't be easy at all, but I do believe the members of Parliament and the political parties will be up to the task, because it depends of us when we will resume. There are no more additional conditions by any member state, including Bulgaria, the conditions under which we take part in the negotiations are already defined," says Marichikj. Commenting on the referendum question, the government official wants it to be carefully considered. "No referendum is needed at this point with the question formulated in this way and also because it will cost eight million euros to only organize a referendum, which is totally unnecessary amid a pending crisis, when we are doing our best to provide regular supply, more normal prices for all the crucial products, such as electricity, gas, etc," says Marichikj. He calls on the stakeholders to focus on building a consensus to resume the EU integration path and building a consensus regarding the constitutional changes, which is, as he says, one of the ways for the opposition to engage in the process. The country, Marichikj emphasizes, ever since declaring independence had decided it wants to be a member of the EU and NATO. "The real question is - do we want to be a member of the EU; the question is not are we in favor of annulling the Treaty with Bulgaria. It has been in force for five years and the opposition has had the chance in Parliament to revoke it had it had majority. I think it is in fact a political game rather than a sincere wish for a referendum that could only drag us back in the past," he states. Marichikj urges the politicians to take responsibility and explain to the citizens why and how they will support and will not support the country's European integration and the resumption of negotiations. "The compromise with Bulgaria contains enough guarantees for our identity and our language and there is no chance for allowing any assimilation or Bulgarization, as they claim, because we know who we are and what we are. We're entering the negotiations with confidence having a clear goal - to join the EU as North Macedonia, as Macedonians whose identity and language is protected," says Marichikj. Asked how in practice the new negotiations methodology will be applied, when we will open the clusters and which is the most optimistic scenario to become a full-fledged member, speaking to MIA Marichikj says that reforms as well as the willingness of the EU is key. "It would be ungrateful to make any predictions now. There has never been a country that was able to predict anything after opening the negotiations. Croatia started discussing accession dates some six months before closing the negotiations, which took six years. However, if we complete the screening in a year and a half and if we don't waste any time, if our reform dynamic is good, because it's the key, not only bilateral issues. I think we have largely completed them," he says. What we should be working on, the Deputy Premier adds, is reforms that will enable us to achieve 100% alignment with the EU, both in practice and in implementation. "If we work hard without wasting any time and also depending on the EU's willingness and preparedness to admit new members, it is quite viable for us to become a member of the Union by the end of this decade," Marichikj tells MIA. North Macedonia got an unanimous decision on the opening of negotiations by the Council of the EU back in March 2020, but it was blocked by Bulgaria due to bilateral historical and linguistic issues. After the proposal of the French EU presidency was accepted and after the signing of the bilateral protocol, by the foreign ministers of North Macedonia and Bulgaria, Bujar Osmani and Teodora Genchovska on July 17, 2022, the Council of the EU adopted the Negotiating Framework. The EU and North Macedonia held the First Intergovernmental Conference on July 19. https://youtu.be/Ec8vqnj2TSQ Neda Dimova Prokikj Translated by Bisera Altiparmakova Photos by Darko Popov Video by Srgjan Krstikj