Skopje, 15 May 2023 (MIA) – If the constitutional changes are not adopted, North Macedonia will be isolated and in a group of countries without a long-term perspective, government officials told a media briefing Monday.

Variant A, said the officials, is the adoption of the constitutional changes and the opening of the First Chapter of negotiations. Variant B, on the other hand, means not adopting the constitutional changes and breaking off negotiations, Albania will continue its negotiations, while we enter a decade of isolation and miss our chance, considering the new geopolitical situation.

Regarding the ongoing screening process, the officials that the explanatory screening meetings over the four clusters have been completed, half of the process is over, and only the explanatory portion concerning the new changes in the EU Acquis in two clusters – Cluster 5 on Resources, Agriculture and Cohesion and External Relations are left, and the Government expects this to be concluded by Fall 2023.

On the other hand, the officials said the bilateral screening is fully completed for clusters 1 and 2 – Fundamentals and Internal Market. There are four chapters left of Cluster 3 and this is expected to be completed by the first week of June, and then the meetings will continue on clusters 4, 5 and 6 – Green Agenda, Agriculture and External Relations.

“We’ve already begun intensive communication over the drafting of the three roadmaps that are of key importance, regarding the public administration reform, rule of law and the functioning of democratic institutions. These roadmaps are actually the condition for the opening of Cluster 1. We are working to establish the institutional framework for the drafting of the roadmaps, but also on the method of consultation with civil society organizations and foreign experts. We are paying special attention to this, because these roadmaps should lay the reform path for the next 6 to 7 years, until our membership,” said the officials.

Regarding the reports over the Negotiating Framework, which claimed that it hasn’t been adopted yet, the government officials clarified that the Framework was adopted in July 2022, during the first Intergovernmental Conference, and will be published during the second Intergovernmental Conference, after the fulfillment of all conditions from the Framework, i.e., the adoption of the constitutional changes.

“The Framework has been adopted, it is not up for negotiations or review, it will only be published after the second Intergovernmental Conference,” said the government officials.

The officials explained the mechanisms ahead of EU membership, i.e., the reward-penalty policy in the new methodology. 

“The penalty aspect means the process can be reversed to the beginning if the country is regressing. The reward means that if the country is progressing well with the reforms, it can become a part of EU policies before it becomes a member state. The idea is to have benefits on the path to EU membership, and we think that the citizens will feel these benefits and that is very important, because obviously, focusing only on the end goal gives rise to frustrations, and this can be seen in the citizens’ opinion of the EU, which is unfortunately dropping,” said the government officials.