Draft air-quality law, IPA-funded plans and calls for on-the-ground enforcement

A new draft law on ambient air quality, seven implementing acts and plans to transpose three EU directives aim to cut air pollution and raise air quality across the country, officials said, with the project financed from IPA funds now awaiting parliamentary approval.

According to authorities, the package — developed over the past two years with a total budget of 1.5 million euros — includes the law itself, sublegal acts and practical implementation plans meant to align national rules with EU standards.

From legislation to enforcement on the ground

Environment Minister Muamet Hodzha said the work behind the initiative has already been completed and that the next step is coordination between ministries and alignment with the relevant EU directive. He described the effort as a concentrated project financed through IPA resources: "With this project called 'smajl peokt', for which 1.5 million euros were secured over the past two years, plans and programmes for air protection were prepared and, at the same time, the new law on ambient air and sublegal acts were drafted. After this event follows coordination between the sectors and harmonisation with the European directive," Hodzha said.

EU Ambassador Mihalis Rokas emphasised that passing the legislation is only one element: implementation and investments on the ground are essential, and inspectorates must impose penalties on polluters. He added that enforcing the law will require inter-ministerial cooperation, naming agriculture, environment and transport as involved sectors.

Rokas also framed the initiative as a public-health investment and a step toward EU accession: "This is a very important investment in citizens' health and a very important process in harmonising the legislation of North Macedonia with EU standards and is a key issue for accession to the EU," he said. He warned that improving legal frameworks must be matched by infrastructural measures such as modern landfills and recycling plants.

The ambassador pointed to wider EU experience in air-quality improvement, noting that the bloc's Green Deal comprises hundreds of legal acts and advanced waste and pollution-control systems: "In the EU, air quality has been dramatically improved due to the 400 legal acts we have in the European 'Green Deal' as well as the most modern landfills, the most modern recycling plants, and also the system for air quality control and fines for polluters," Rokas said.

Minister Hodzha said authorities have prepared a draft national air-quality plan for 2027–2031 and a ten-year national programme for air pollution control covering 2027–2037, which will guide investment and enforcement priorities if adopted.

Photo: press material from the event