Skopje, 22 June 2023 (MIA) - Academicians Vlado Kambovski and Taki Fiti, Deputy PM for European Affairs Bojan Marichikj, and Finance Minister Fatmir Besimi are participating as keynote speakers in the conference 'Speeding up North Macedonia's EU Accession Process: Key Challenges and Priorities' on Thursday, which is a scholarly and argumentative debate, outside of party politics, that is supposed to help North Macedonia better prepare for the upcoming phases of the European integration process.

The conference is expected to produce concrete, and clear recommendations, which will be a part of the proceedings, which will then be submitted to the Government, and used for the selection of an expert team for the opening of the EU negotiation process.

Deputy PM Marichikj said it is a good thing that there is legal and political dialogue for the accession process and constitutional amendments discussions, but also that there is an economic section for new ideas for adapting to the EU internal market even before the membership.

"At this time, we need to think creatively. That is the message we got from the European Commission, that this summer we need to have discussion on topics with which we can join the EU sooner, from what we have to offer so far for the candidate countries, such as North Macedonia, and on the other hand, what are the other creative elements of the process that can be introduced in the new enlargement package, the next EU enlargement with Ukraine and Western Balkan countries," said Marichikj.

According to the Deputy PM, the Government has had consultation with the scholarly community regarding European integration.

"So far we've had consultations, maybe not formal and on a level such as this one, but we've had consultations. We are in consistent consultations on several issues with the scholarly community. Part of them are involved in the working groups, and of course the goal of these events is to connect further, to open doors and opportunities for the inclusion of the scholarly communities in the working groups, especially for the three important roadmaps for 2023," Marichikj added.

Academician Fiti said the conference is very important and highly relevant, which is confirmed by the fact that 35 scholarly papers and 50 participants have taken part, and that there are 18 papers and 30 participants in the economy field.

"We will discuss key economy criteria, speeding up the EU accession process in that context, and we will focus on productivity and creativity. Those are the two areas with which we struggle on our path to the EU, but a series of other issues will also be discussed, such as financial challenges in a European context at a central and local level, issues with economic growth and development, situations, obstacles and perspectives. Another important topic is the approach to EU's standards regarding the level of income, and we will also discuss the 'green transition.' The papers will be published in a separate volume with specific and clear recommendations to policymakers. I expect in both the economic and other parts to clearly detect the weaknesses and advantages, but also the sectors which are struggling and to propose measures on how to overcome it," said Fiti.

According to Minister Besimi, recommendations are expected from the conference that will be useful in the European integration process.

"We are discussing at this scholarly conference the challenges and perspectives of European integration, economic aspects and legal aspects, which is extremely important in this part now, when there have already been announcements from the EC that for the Western Balkans there are opportunities for an accelerated lane of the integration process in EU," said Besimi.

The scholarly conference is organized by the Center for Strategic Research Ksente Bogoev at the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts (MANU) in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance and the Secretariat for European Affairs. ssh/nn/

Photo: MIA