Mickoski: Reform Agenda to be finalised by the end of December
The prime minister said several bills are in technical alignment with the European Commission and a compromise on judicial budgets has been presented to Brussels.
Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said the Government expects to complete the legislative package from the Reform Agenda by the end of December and will seek to bring the bills to parliament at the start of December.
Key laws, technical checks and Brussels review
Mickoski told reporters that a Government meeting dedicated to implementing the Reform Agenda presented detailed status updates for laws in several ministries and reviewed current activity, progress and next steps.
He said four key laws prepared by the Ministry of Public Administration are now in the phase of technical alignment with the European Commission and that the Government is working intensively to meet the Reform Agenda steps within the agreed grace period. “I expect, on a technical level, that by the end of the month all matters will be cleared and we will be able to enter parliament at the beginning of December, so that by the end of December these laws will pass. That is the Law on Administrative Servants, or the well-known ZAS, where we have one or two points on which we are talking with the European Commission. Then there is the Law on Employees in Public Service or the public sector, where we have one or two remarks that we will work on at a technical level this week. The third is on senior executive positions, and here we also have one or two remarks,”
Mickoski also reminded that the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code have already been sent to Brussels for review and suggestions, and said the corresponding tables will be delivered no later than Monday.
On the Academy for Judges and Prosecutors law, he said the draft is progressing through procedures to allow the selection of a new generation of judges and prosecutors, and that financing questions are being clarified with European partners.
Regarding the laws for the Public Prosecution, the Council of Public Prosecutors and the Judicial Council, Mickoski said the main sticking point has been budget shares — 0.8% of GDP for the courts and 0.5% of the total budget for the public prosecutor’s office — and that a compromise on staged increases in those budgets was found and presented to the European Commission.
He added that the Ministry of Transport is expecting opinions on five laws that introduce minor changes to the ITS systems in rail and road transport. Mickoski gave his comments after visiting construction works in the Kisela Voda municipality. He also defended proposed changes to the Public Procurement Law, saying companies and law firms are undermining tenders to profit through appeals.
Photo: Prinstrin
