The three-day bilateral screening meetings for Chapter 11: Agriculture and Rural Development, which falls under Cluster 5: Resources, Agriculture, and Cohesion, commenced in Brussels on Monday. The meeting was attended by Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, and Water Economy Ljupcho Nikolovski and the Deputy Chief EU negotiator and State Secretary of the Secretariat for European Affairs (SEA), Drita Abdiu-Halili.

Chapter 11 encompasses numerous binding rules, most of which are directly applicable and pertain to their effective implementation and oversight by the public administration, a prerequisite for the functioning of the common EU agricultural policy.

In his opening statement before representatives from the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development and Directorate-General for Neighborhood and Enlargement Negotiations, Minister Nikolovski presented the latest legal solutions, the current legal framework, institutional capacities, and the opportunities and challenges of Macedonia’s agriculture and rural development.

SEA State Secretary Abdiu-Halili expressed gratitude to the European Commission for their support in the development of agriculture and rural development in Macedonia. She highlighted that the country is a regional leader in utilizing funds from the IPARD program.

“We are proud to have signed the Financing Agreement for IPARD III at the beginning of October. Furthermore, the IPARD III program has been 98 percent realized. This provides us with encouragement and hope to achieve 100 percent realization,” Abdiu-Halili stated.

She mentioned that the first public call for IPARD III has been published, making Macedonia the first country in the region to initiate the implementation of the new IPARD program period.

In addition to representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Water Economy responsible for this chapter and SEA, the Macedonian delegation also includes representatives from the Agency for Financial Support in Agriculture and Rural Development, State Agriculture Inspectorate, Food and Veterinary Agency, and the State Commission for the Prevention of Corruption.

The bilateral screening for Chapter 11 will continue on Tuesday and Wednesday, presenting the country’s progress and measures aimed at strengthening the domestic agriculture market.

According to SEA, Macedonia has been actively working on transposing relevant EU legislation and enhancing administrative and operational capacities. This includes the adoption of the National Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development 2021–2027, in line with the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy for 2023-2027.