Prodi brengt officieel bezoek aan Skopje (en)

The President of the European Commission, Mr Romano Prodi, will pay an official visit to Skopje on 1 October. The main purpose of the visit will be to hand over the Commission's Questionnaire to the Government necessary for the Commission to prepare an Opinion on the country's membership application. President Prodi will encourage the Macedonian authorities to proceed with the necessary reforms spelt out in the European Partnership and with the implementation of the Ohrid Framework Agreement.

Following the Macedonian application for EU membership, the EU Council of Ministers asked the Commission on 17 May 2004 to prepare an Opinion on the membership application. Among the sources of information used by the Commission to carry out its analysis will be the replies which the Government will provide to the questions in the Questionnaire. The Questionnaire covers the political criteria for membership to the EU (concerning notably the functioning of democracy, rule of law, human rights and protection of minorities), the economic criteria (existence of a market economy and capacity to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the Union) as well as all areas of the EU legislation grouped in 29 chapters. The replies to these questions will provide material which will help the Commission to analyse if the country is ready to assume the obligations related to membership.

The hand-over of the Questionnaire is a reminder of the advanced stage Skopje has reached in the process of European integration. Earlier this year, the Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the country and the EU entered into force and the first meetings of the Stabilisation and Association Council and Committee took place recently in Brussels. A European Partnership with the country has been adopted by the EU, as foreseen by the Thessaloniki Agenda, which it is under implementation.

Against this background, an essential condition for further progress in the relations with the EU remains the continuing implementation of the Framework Agreement concluded at Ohrid in August 2001. In his talks, President Prodi will discuss the progress made by the Government and the Parliament to implement the remaining parts of the Agreement, most notably the decentralisation of competencies to municipalities and the related reforms.