Deputy Prime Minister of European Affairs Bojan Marichikj in Brussels will open Monday a three-day bilateral screening session on Chapter 24 of the EU acquis on justice, freedom and security, transmits news agency MIA.
According to the Secretariat for European Affairs in a press release, the Ministry of Interior’s sector for negotiations and European integration head Svetlana Vlahovikj Dimanovska coordinates the Chapter 24 working group.
The working group members will present to the European Commission North Macedonia’s legal system’s level of alignment with the EU acquis on issues such as migration, asylum, judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters, cooperation in the field of drugs, customs cooperation, visa policy, police cooperation, fight against organized crime and terrorism, financial intelligence cooperation, Schengen, counterfeiting, and external borders.
North Macedonia’s negotiating team consists of representatives of the office of the Deputy Prime Minister in charge of good governance policies; the Interior Ministry; the Ministry of Justice; the Ministry of Defense; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the Ministry of Health; the Public Prosecutor’s Office; the National Bank, the Financial Intelligence Office; and the Secretariat for European Affairs. State Secretary of the Secretariat for European Affairs Drita Abdiu Halili will also attend the session.
“The Macedonian team’s presentations on Chapter 24, within Cluster 1: Fundamental Values, will last through Nov. 24 and will provide a solid basis for the screening report the European Commission will prepare and send to the Council of the EU for further action, depending on the dynamics of the negotiations on this chapter,” the release says.
