20 years of Slovenia’s assistance to EU candidate countries and potential candidates

SLOVENIA, September 11 - The project was implemented in North Macedonia in 2004 and 2005, shortly after the historic 2003 Thessaloniki Summit. At this Summit, Western Balkan countries were not only promised a European perspective but were also, for the first time, given access to the European Commission’s Technical Assistance and Information Exchange Instrument (TAIEX) and other close inter-institutional cooperation projects funded by the EU’s pre-accession assistance.

With the support and guidance of the Slovenian administration, North Macedonia successfully completed the European Commission's questionnaire and became a candidate country in 2005. Slovenia’s useful and relevant experience helped North Macedonia reorganise its EU accession coordination mechanism within its government and parliament. Slovenian experts also shared their knowledge with several line ministries responsible for the internal market, one of the most important areas under the Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the EU and North Macedonia. Draft laws and guidelines on the internal market were prepared, as well as nomotechnical guidelines for the transposition of the EU acquis. A terminological database was also established for the preparation of the national version of the EU Acquis.

Slovenian public servants were met on the Macedonian side by highly motivated partners eager to be of assistance and implement the proposed recommendations. The friendship established through the close inter-institutional cooperation project has endured to this day and served as a gateway for further collaboration and the strengthening of bilateral relations between Slovenia and North Macedonia in the area of EU integration.

Since joining the EU, Slovenia has implemented more than 60 close institutional cooperation projects in the Western Balkans and Georgia. Slovenia remains committed to providing support to EU candidate countries and potential candidates, both bilaterally through development cooperation and through projects funded by EU resources.