These days, the European Commission published the draft of the Report from the screening process of Cluster 1 – Fundamentals, which includes the following chapters:
- Chapter 23 – Judiciary and fundamental rights
- Chapter 24 – Justice, freedom and security
- Chapter 5 – Public procurement
- Chapter 18 – Statistics
- Chapter 32 – Financial control
Which was carried out in the period from September to December 2022.
Chapter 18 – Statistics – was discussed at the explanatory meeting with the representatives of the EC – Eurostat on 16 September 2022, followed by the bilateral meeting with Eurostat in Luxembourg in November (14-15).
The assessment of the European Commission is that Macedonian official statistics have achieved a high level of compliance with European legislation and international standards.
What the European Commission notes and recommends is the allocation of adequate resources to achieve full compliance with European legislation.
And in the assessments of the separate domains of statistical production, the European Commission states a high level of compliance and recommends further activities to achieve full compliance.
This is another confirmation, as the European Commission has stated in the last 5 years in the annual reports on the progress of the Republic of North Macedonia, that the State Statistical Office, as the main holder and coordinator of the National Statistical System, is a highly professional institution within the bodies of the state administration in the Republic of North Macedonia, which rightfully deserves the epithet of an equal member of the European statistical family, applying European principles and standards in its operations like all other statistical institutions of the EU member states.
All these results and high achievements are the result of the maximum commitment and dedication of all the employees of the institution who are constantly fully invested in achieving the set goals despite all the obstacles the institution has been facing for a long time, which, above all, refer to the chronic lack of professional staff, insufficient financial resources for the realization of statistical surveys and for the introduction of new ones.
However, we are proud and satisfied with what has been achieved and we hope that at the opening of Chapter 18 in the negotiation process with the EU, we will have achieved the objective compliance with the European legislation in the field of statistics.