Center for Change Management proposes free access to the Official Gazette

The Center for Change Management (CCM) urged that the Official Gazette of the Republic of North Macedonia be made freely available to all citizens, calling unrestricted access to laws a constitutional right and a prerequisite for the rule of law.

CCM released a policy analysis outlining legal, economic and democratic benefits of free access. "We cannot speak of the rule of law when citizens have limited access to the general legal regulations of the state, and this absurd situation is an indicator of the low legal and political culture in the country. Therefore, the Assembly and the Government have an obligation to remove this systemic anomaly and to ensure free and unrestricted access to the state's legislation," the centre wrote.

How to guarantee free access

The report says free access can be achieved by amending the Law on Publication of Laws and Other Regulations and Acts in the Official Gazette of the Republic of North Macedonia, by changing the decision of the Public Enterprise "Official Gazette" that sets subscription fees, or by repeal of Article 14, paragraph 1, indent 1 of the Law by the Constitutional Court.

CCM noted that a draft amendment published on the ENER platform on 23.12.2025 proposes a mandatory electronic edition of the Official Gazette while keeping the printed edition only as needed. The centre recommends supplementing the draft so it explicitly states that "access to laws, other general regulations and public notices cannot be subject to payment and must be publicly available without hindrance," leaving operational details to the Public Enterprise.

Financially, CCM examined the Public Enterprise "Official Gazette" (PEOG) accounts for 2022–2025. The analysis shows total revenues rose by 10% in that period while total expenses increased by 22%. "When comparing revenue and expense trends for 2022–2025 it can be observed that revenues have an average growth of two percent, while for the same period expenses have an average growth of seven percent. Expenses also have a total growth of 22 percent from 2022 to 2025 in contrast to the smaller total increase in revenues of ten percent for the same period. This kind of disproportionate increase of costs against revenues will lead to losses in the future operation of the enterprise," the report states.

To cover potential shortfalls, CCM proposed two options. Option 1: "The most favourable solution to cover the potential loss after introducing a free electronic edition of the Official Gazette would be achieved by abolishing the regular printed edition and offering the printed edition by single order. This solution not only covers the loss from cancelling subscriptions for the electronic edition, but additionally generates profit for PEOG." Option 2: "The second solution concerns the state compensating the difference in loss that PEOG may potentially face. According to responses to freedom of information requests, in 2025 there were a total of 743 subscribed users, of which 431 or 58 percent were public institutions at central and local level. That means that of the total subscription revenue for the Official Gazette in 2025, 58 percent or 4 056 424 denars were paid by state institutions. That would mean, taking into account only charging institutions for services, that in 2025 the enterprise would have realised total revenue of 6 174 524 denars. If this solution is taken into account, projected to 2030, PEOG will not face losses and would remain profitable with an average reduction in revenues of 21 percent for the period 2026–2030."

CCM's comparative review points out that neighbouring countries—Croatia (Narodni list) and Slovenia (Uradni list)—provide free and easily accessible electronic official gazettes. Federal Germany and France also make their official gazettes freely available, charging only for additional services. Domestically, CCM notes that while archival issues are available free online, access to current-year issues on the Official Gazette's website requires a paid monthly or annual subscription: print annual subscription MKD 16,650 or monthly MKD 1,650; electronic annual subscription MKD 7,000 per user.

Photo: press material from the event