Parliamentary question

Written question to the European Commission

The Constitutional Court of North Macedonia repealed the Law on Prevention and Protection from Discrimination, which had been adopted in May 2019, due to the failure to meet formal procedural requirements. The key achievement of this law was the prohibition of any discrimination based on race, origin, nationality or ethnicity, religion, political beliefs, and crucially, it included sexual orientation and gender identity. Repealing the law has therefore stripped vulnerable groups of the protection they deserve.

1. In the context of EU enlargement, what has been the reaction of the Commission and the EU Delegation in Skopje?

2. How will the Commission engage with local authorities in North Macedonia to support the timely adoption of the necessary legal provisions and establishment of functional institutions that enshrine, in law and practice, fundamental EU values (including the principle of non-discrimination), which are a pre-condition for advancing the EU accession process?

Answer given by Commissioner Várhelyi on behalf of the European Commission

The European Commission is committed to promoting prevention and protection from discrimination in the EU accession process.

The legal framework and the establishment of functional institutions are a cornerstone of the Commission’s dialogue with the Republic of North Macedonia in the context of the Stabilisation and Association Process and in its monitoring of progress under Chapter 23.

The EU acquis on non-discrimination was presented to the authorities of North Macedonia in September 2018. Regular dialogue with the relevant non-governmental organisations takes place both at headquarters and in the EU Delegation in Skopje.

As a candidate country for EU accession, North Macedonia is required to gradually align its legal framework with the EU acquis with a view to achieving full alignment before joining the EU. In this context, the Commission recommends to the authorities to swiftly re-adopt the Law on the Prevention and Protection against Discrimination, ensuring it is in line with the EU acquis and European standards on non-discrimination.

The Commission recommends that provisions of the previously adopted law, including the list of protected grounds, be preserved and that the Commission for Prevention and Protection against Discrimination be established.