Accession of North Macedonia to the European Union
The accession of North Macedonia to the European Union has been on the current agenda for future enlargement of the EU since 2005, when it became a candidate for accession. Macedonia submitted its membership application in 2004, thirteen years after its independence from Yugoslavia. It is one of five current EU candidate countries, together with Albania, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey. The EU gave its formal approval to begin accession talks with North Macedonia and Albania in March 2020.
History
Macedonia began its formal process of rapprochement with the European Union in 2000, by initiating negotiations about the EU's Stabilisation and Association Process, and it became the first non-EU country in the Balkans to sign the Stabilisation and Association Agreement, on 9 April 2001 in Luxembourg. The agreement was ratified by the Macedonian parliament on 12 April 2001 and came into force on 1 April 2004.On 22 March 2004, Macedonia submitted its application for EU membership. On 6 September 2004, the Macedonian government adopted a National Strategy for European integration, supported by the country's parliament through its Commission for European Issues. The government subsequently began the procedure of answering the questionnaire of the European Commission regarding its performance in preparation for membership in accordance with the Copenhagen criteria, a process that was finished by 31 January 2005. The European Council officially granted the country candidate status on 17 December 2005, after a review and a positive recommendation of the candidacy by the European Commission.
After the naming dispute with Greece was solved in 2019, accession negotiations were expected to start within the same year, but in June 2019 the EU General Affairs Council decided to postpone the decision to October, due to objections from a number of countries including the Netherlands and France. France vetoed the decision again in October. On 25 March 2020 the Council of the European Union decided to open accession negotiations, which was endorsed by the European Council the following day.
Name dispute with Greece
A major obstacle for the accession process was the Republic's unresolved objection by Greece over its name, as Greece argued that it implied territorial ambitions towards Greece's own northern province of Macedonia. While the country preferred to be called by its constitutional name, Republic of Macedonia, the European Union, in acknowledgment of concerns raised by Greece, maintained a practice of recognising it only as the "former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia", a compromise of "provisional reference" introduced by the United Nations in 1993. Greece, as any other EU country, has veto power against new accessions, and blocked Macedonian accession due to the naming dispute.On 12 June 2018, an agreement was reached between Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras and his Macedonian counterpart Zoran Zaev, known as the Prespa agreement, under which the country would be renamed the "Republic of North Macedonia". As part of this deal, Greece explicitly withdrew its previous opposition, allowing the EU to approve on 26 June 2018 a pathway to starting accession talks.
Historical and linguistic dispute with Bulgaria
Although Bulgaria was the first country to recognize the independence of the then Republic of Macedonia, most of its academics, as well as the general public, do not recognize the Macedonian language and nation formed after the Second World War as a separate from Bulgarian proper. Macedonian politicians and public on the other hand, have pretensions on parts of Bulgarian territory, claiming the majority of the population there are oppressed ethnic Macedonians. Macedonia and Bulgaria signed a friendship treaty to improve their complicated relations in August 2017. A joint commission on historical and educational issues was formed in 2018 to serve as a forum where controversial historical and educational issues could be raised and discussed. According to the reports, this commission has made little progress in its work for a period of one year. In October 2019, Bulgaria set out a “Framework position” warning that it would block the accession process unless North Macedonia fulfilled a number of demands regarding what Bulgaria perceived as "anti-Bulgarian ideology" in the country.Domestic politics
EU funding
North Macedonia is currently receiving €1.3 billion of development aid until 2020 from the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance, a funding mechanism for EU candidate countries.Campaign
The government's motto for the candidacy is "The Sun, too, is a star.", referring to the sun from the flag of North Macedonia being displayed among the other stars in the flag of Europe.Government structuring
North Macedonia's government has established a management infrastructure for the European integration process on the basis of a paper adopted in 1997 under the title "The strategic bases of the Republic of Macedonia on achieving the membership of the European Union". It consists of the following institutions:- The Committee for Euro-Atlantic Integration plays the central role in the decision-making of the country's policies in the European integration process. It is chaired by the Prime Minister with members including Deputy Prime Ministers, all ministers in the Government, the Governor of the National Bank of North Macedonia, and the President of the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts.
- The Working Committee for European Integration of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia – It is chaired by the Deputy Prime Ministers in charge of EU Integration, whose deputy is the Minister of Economy. The members are the secretaries from all Ministries. It is an operational, inter-ministerial body establishing the methods and dynamics for implementation of strategic decisions, political guidelines and priorities of the Government, as well as monitoring the realisation of the concrete tasks.
- The Deputy to the President of the Government is responsible for the European integration as centre in the management and co-ordination of the operational part of the integration process. Its support and service is the Sector for European Integration within the General Secretariat of the Government of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
- The Sector for European Integration within the Republic's government is given the task to organise, co-ordinate and synchronise the EU integration process. It is organised in seven units in charge of the approximation of the national legislation with that of the EU, translation of the EU legal acts, institution building, support to the WCEI, co-ordination of foreign assistance, and information to the broader public on EU and the European integration process.
- Departments/Sectors/Units for European Integration within the Ministries have similar structure and competencies as the central Sector for European Integration within the Government, being a key link in the institutional infrastructure.
- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs – EU domain – is responsible for communications with the EU structures through the Mission of former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in Brussels, gathering valid and timely information that have impact on the integration process and presenting the uniform perspectives and positions in the European structures.
- the Republic's Assembly and its Commission for European Issues
- the Secretariat for Legislation
- the General Secretariat of the Government
- the Subcommittee of the WCEI for approximation of the legislation with its working groups
Ethnic Albanian sentiments
Chronology of relations with the EU
Visa liberalisation process
On 1 January 2008 the visa facilitation and readmission agreements between Macedonia and the EU entered into force.Macedonia began a visa liberalisation dialogue with the EU in February 2008 and was added to the list of visa exempt nationals on 19 December 2009, allowing their citizens to enter the Schengen Area, Bulgaria, Cyprus and Romania without a visa when travelling with biometric passports.
Negotiation progress
The screening process is underway and no chapters have been opened thus far.| Progression | 21 / 33 | 0 / 33 | 0 / 33 | 0 / 33 |
| Acquis chapter | Screening Started | Screening Completed | Chapter Opened | Chapter Closed |
| 1. Free Movement of Goods | 17 01 2019 | – | – | – |
| 2. Freedom of Movement For Workers | 13 03 2019 | – | – | – |
| 3. Right of Establishment & Freedom To Provide Services | 11 12 2018 | – | – | – |
| 4. Free Movement of Capital | 10 01 2019 | – | – | – |
| 5. Public Procurement | 06 12 2018 | – | – | – |
| 6. Company Law | – | – | – | – |
| 7. Intellectual Property Law | 07 02 2019 | – | – | – |
| 8. Competition Policy | – | – | – | – |
| 9. Financial Services | 09 04 2019 | – | – | – |
| 10. Information Society & Media | – | – | – | – |
| 11. Agriculture & Rural Development | – | – | – | – |
| 12. Food Safety, Veterinary & Phytosanitary Policy | 18 02 2019 | – | – | – |
| 13. Fisheries | – | – | – | – |
| 14. Transport Policy | – | – | – | – |
| 15. Energy | 26 03 2019 | – | – | – |
| 16. Taxation | – | – | – | – |
| 17. Economic & Monetary Policy | 10 01 2019 | – | – | – |
| 18. Statistics | 12 02 2019 | – | – | – |
| 19. Social Policy & Employment | 03 04 2019 | – | – | – |
| 20. Enterprise & Industrial Policy | 29 01 2019 | – | – | – |
| 21. Trans-European Networks | 27 03 2019 | – | – | – |
| 22. Regional Policy & Coordination of Structural Instruments | 02 02 2019 | – | – | – |
| 23. Judiciary & Fundamental Rights | 27 09 2018 | – | – | – |
| 24. Justice, Freedom & Security | 12 11 2018 | – | – | – |
| 25. Science & Research | 11 03 2019 | – | – | – |
| 26. Education & Culture | 12 03 2019 | – | – | – |
| 27. Environment & Climate Change | – | – | – | – |
| 28. Consumer & Health Protection | 28 03 2019 | – | – | – |
| 29. Customs Union | – | – | – | – |
| 30. External Relations | – | – | – | – |
| 31. Foreign, Security & Defence Policy | – | – | – | – |
| 32. Financial Control | 05 12 2018 | – | – | – |
| 33. Financial & Budgetary Provisions | – | – | – | – |
| 34. Institutions | – | – | – | – |
| 35. Other Issues | – | – | – | – |
| Acquis chapter | Screening Started | Screening Completed | Chapter Opened | Chapter Closed |
| Progression | 21 / 33 | 0 / 33 | 0 / 33 | 0 / 33 |
Impact of joining
| Member countries | Population | Area | GDP | GDP per capita | Languages |
 North Macedonia | 2,058,539 | 25,713 | 10.98 | 4,935 | Macedonian, Albanian |
| EU27 | 446,824,564 | 4,136,556 | 17,267 | 39,114 | 24 |
| EU27+1 | 448,883,103 ' | 4,162,269 ' | 17,277.98 ' | 38,957 ' | 26 |