40 Amendments of Klemen GROŠELJ related to 2022/2203(INI)
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the rules and values based enlargement is the most effective EU foreign policy instrument and is a geostrategic investment in long-term peace, democracy, stability and security throughout the continent;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas democratic transformation, the rule of law and reconciliation play a central role in EU accession process and each accession country should demonstrate robust irreversible results in democratic resilience and socio-economic transformation;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine highlights the critical importance of EU enlargement and exposes the need to increase resilience to malign foreign interference into democratic processes, aiming to destabilise the region by sowing discord and provoking tensions and violence;
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. whereas North Macedonia has been heavily targeted by Russian disinformation and other hybrid attacks, and should strengthen protection of its critical infrastructure, cyber-security, counter-disinformation and energy transition measures;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas the fight against corruption, malicious foreign interference, money laundering and organised crime is a European security issue, crucial for North Macedonia’s and other enlargement countries’ progress in the EU accession;
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas each country should be judged on its own merits and wthereas the conditionality-based accession process should not be misused to settle bilateral disputes;
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)
Recital F a (new)
Fa. whereas the EU is a community of cultural and linguistic diversity, based on solidarity and mutual respect among its peoples;
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas the EU remains the main political and economic partner of the Western Balkan countries, mobilising an unprecedented cross-cutting additional support in the wake of the pandemics and Russia’s brutal aggression against Ukraine;
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas accession negotiations are a clear recognition of the progress achieved and mark a new phase in EU– North Macedonia relations;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes North Macedonia’s consistent strategic commitment to EU integration, which has been underpinned by solidarity and steady progress on guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights, while moving towards cross-cutting policy alignment with the EU;
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Commends North Macedonia’s full alignment with the EU’s foreign and security policy, including its clear-cut response to the aggression against Ukraine by aligning with the EU’s restrictive measures against Russia and Belarus; expresses its full support to North Macedonia's OSCE Chairmanship and its role in contributing to peace and stability and safeguarding the respect for international law; welcomes reforms undertaken so far in the fields of crisis management, the critical infrastructure, cyber defence, participation in the EU and NATO-led missions and the ongoing modernization of armed forces;
Amendment 77 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Commends North Macedonia’s full alignment with the EU’s foreign and security policy, including its clear-cut response to the Russian aggression against Ukraine by aligning with the EU’s restrictive measures against Russia and Belarus;
Amendment 90 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Urges decision-makers to foster a national consensus on EU integration, to work towards strengthening administrative capacities, building upon a successful start to the screening process, to work towards fulfilment and the ambitious goal of meeting the criteria for EU membership by 2030;
Amendment 105 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Encourages the Commission to speed up cross-cutting integration with enlargement countries in the fields of economy and single market, energy and transport, social policy, education, digitalisation, research and innovation, agriculture and rural development, justice and home affairs, civil protection, foreign affairs, security and defence, including cybersecurity;
Amendment 107 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -5 (new)
Paragraph -5 (new)
-5. Recalls that the rule of law and institutional integrity are the backbone of a democratic transformation, societal resilience and socio-economic cohesion;
Amendment 109 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Compliments North Macedonia for the tangible results in consolidating democracy; urges the country to intensify efforts to improve governance and access to justice through the implementation of roadmaps on the rule of law and public administration;
Amendment 113 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Invites policymakers to constructively engage in the continued adoption and implementation of structural reforms, while strengtheningEU-related reforms under a cross-party commitment to the EU integration , while strengthening specialised independent institutions, decision- making transparency, inclusive consultations and the oversight abilities of the Assembly of North Macedonia, including under the auspices of the Jean Monnet Dialogue, facilitated by the European Parliament; urges lawmakers to implement a pending commitment to revise Sobranie’s rules of procedure, to avoid both unjustified delays and the overuse of urgency procedures and to strengthen parliamentary oversight over the intelligence services;
Amendment 121 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Encourages the country to increase institutional integrity and intensify its judicial reform; welcomes prosecutions related to the abuse of office and looks forward to systematic action to prevent, prosecute and follow-up on corruption cases; insists on adequate funding for and the effective functioning of independent bodies and agencies and on the consistent implementation of their decisions and recommendations such as the Commission for Prevention of Corruption (SCPC), the Public Prosecution Office; applauds anti- corruption contribution of independent civil society and the media; supports enhanced judicial cooperation in criminal matters under the working arrangement with the EPPO in order to ensure effective investigation and prosecution of crimes against the European Union’s budget;
Amendment 126 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Urges the authorities to effectively fight corruption and organised crime through coordinated investigations and prosecutions leading to final convictions and asset confiscations in cases involving high-level corruption, organised crime and money laundering, making a full use of the National Coordination Centre for the Fight against Organised and Serious Crime;
Amendment 138 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Deplores the malign foreign interference and hybrid attacks, such as disinformation campaigns, cyberattacks and false bomb threats, directed against North Macedonia’s institutions and citizens; invites the authorities to considerably strengthen North Macedonia’s resilience against such threats by enhancing cybersecurity coordination, counter-radicalisation and data protection capabilities and calls for an enhanced EU support in this regard;
Amendment 148 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Welcomes the successful international actions taken against the trafficking of people, narcotics and firearms, and the uncovering of online fraud, which were aimed at dismantling organised crime groups, including those involved in people smuggling, the evasion of justice, money laundering and cybercrime; acknowledges that the country has complied with its commitments on tax cooperation and tax good governance standards, following its ratification of the OECD multilateral convention on mutual administrative assistance;
Amendment 156 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Invites North Macedonia to fully align with EU visa policy and to limit security risks related to its citizenship-by- investment scheme, refraining from systematic granting of citizenship for special economic interest; urges the authorities to take further action against criminal trafficking networks and to step up cooperation with the EU’s justice and home affairs agencies, including through an enhanced partnership under the newly-ratified Frontex status agreement, the European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats’ (EMPACT) and the regional Anti-Smuggling Operational Partnership, in full compliance with fundamental rights; welcomes successful international investigations and police operations against trafficking of people, narcotics and firearms and uncovering of the online fraud cases across Southeast Europe, including the dismantling of a criminal groups related to money laundering and cryptocurrency fraud and urges authorities to strengthen domestic operational and asset recovery capacities;
Amendment 165 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Calls for further progress on public administration, free from political and economic interference and encourages the authorities to complete local governance reform;
Amendment 172 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Notes North Macedonia’s commitment to upholding civil liberties and fundamental rights; welcomes its progress towards eliminating all types of discrimination and ensuring equality, including under the strategies on Gender Equality and on Equality and Anti- discrimination;
Amendment 179 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Urges the authorities to step up protection of vulnerable groups and the prosecution of domestic and online abuse , hate speech and hate crimes and to improve services for the victims of violence; welcomes changes to the Criminal Code of North Macedonia, covering crimes related to violence against women and the safety of journalists and insists on the need to strengthen North Macedonia’s anti-discrimination commission and Ombudsman’s office; welcomes improving reception conditions for asylum applicants and suggests to further strengthen asylum and reception capacities;
Amendment 195 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Underlines the importance of removing barriers to the socioeconomic inclusion of persons with disabilities and their equal access to education, health services, public buildings and transport ;
Amendment 201 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Commends North Macedonia’s well-established inter-community harmony and urges the country to sustain its long- standing commitment to multiculturalism and inclusion and to continue ensuring that rights of all citizens are protected equally regardless of their ethnicity;
Amendment 223 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Acknowledges North Macedonia’s enabling environment for media freedom and urges the authorities to ensure transparency of media ownership, financing and political advertising, as well as the public broadcaster’s and the media regulator’s ability to operate independently; recalls the need to counter political interference and foreign and home-grown disinformation and manipulative narratives; deplores threats and attacks against journalists and demands to bring their perpetrators before justice; acknowledges the updates to the Law on Civil Liability for Insult and Defamation, providing for a framework guaranteeing freedom of expression and professional journalistic standards; warns against selective public funding of the private media that can distort political and media pluralism;
Amendment 239 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Notes North Macedonia’s commitment tolong- standing commitment to multiculturalism and inter-community harmony, underpinned by the Ohrid Framework Agreement, along with fostering of a positive diplomacy and good neighbourly relations; reiterates its full support for a consistent mutual implementation of the Treaty of Friendship with Bulgaria and the Prespa Agreement with Greece along with its pending ratification of the additional memorandums on cooperation;
Amendment 243 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Commends the countryNorth Macedonia’s constructive engagement as part ofin inclusive regional and cross-border cooperation initiatives and welcomes the tangible progress reached under the Berlin Process and the EU-Western Balkans summit in Tirana; on free movement and the mutual recognition of the qualifications in the framework of the Berlin Process and the EU-Western Balkans summit in Tirana; welcomes regional agreements signed so far and recalls that further integration is need complete the creation of the Common Regional Market; expresses support the gradual elimination of roaming charges between North Macedonia and the EU Member states;
Amendment 253 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Warns against attempts to undermine peaceful inter-community and bilateral relations and deplores all internal and external actions that endanger stability and jeopardise regional reconciliation, such as the promotion of extremism, hatred and historical revisionism; strongly condemns all provocations, including instances of hate speech, along with acts of vandalism and violence, aimed at inciting intolerance, tensions, destabilising the country, derailing the EU-related reforms and slowing down the EU integration process;
Amendment 261 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Calls for calm, dignity and maturity in bilateral relations, urges regional partners to restore trust and cooperate by resolving bilateral differences in good faith, with mutual respect and in the spirit of good neighbourliness by swiftly de- escalating rhetoric, calming down tensions and preventing further provocations;
Amendment 266 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Invites policymakers and the societies of Bulgaria and North Macedonia to assume joint responsibility and use their shared experiences to restore the positive agenda between the two countries, enabling a common peaceful and prosperous future in the EU in the spirit the of the Treaty of Friendship; expresses support for continued diplomatic and societal dialogue to resolve bilateral grievances in good faith and in the spirit of compromise;
Amendment 279 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
26. Supports efforts to reach an agreement on constitutional changes that would include Bulgarian, Croatian and Montenegrin additional communities in the preamble of the North Macedonia’s constitution;
Amendment 288 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. Urges the authorities to continue to progress on structural reforms that will enable a sustainable recovery and inclusive growth through improved governance, education, digitalisation, social inclusion, formalisation of the economy and upskilling; along with measures aimed at empowering young, elderly and disabled people and alleviating the risk of poverty and social exclusion of vulnerable groups; drawing upon the findings of the 2021 national census;
Amendment 294 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Invites policymakers to consolidate fiscal governance, extend the tax base and strengthen macro- financial stability, making full use of the latest proposed EUR 100 million loan package under the Macro-Financial Assistance to help cover the country's financing needs in 2023- 2024, following on the €160 million package in 2020-2021;
Amendment 298 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30
Paragraph 30
30. Invites decision-makers to prioritise energy efficiency measures and welcomes steps to accelerate the energy transition and energy diversification; applauds thein this regard the speedy deployment of the €1 billion EU energy support package for the Western Balkans, including immediate budgetary support of EUR 80 million for North Macedonia’s energy reforms; urges the authorities to step up efforts to mainstream environmental and climate action across sectors; expresses support for the region’s integration into the EU energy market; welcomes the diversification of energy sources and routes, including under the REPowerEU and joint energy purchases under the EU Energy Platform, through construction of the electricity and gas interconnectors with Greece and contribution to the construction of a floating LNG terminal and a gas power plant in Alexandroupolis;
Amendment 310 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32
Paragraph 32
32. Notes the need to fill in transport connectivity gaps by improving planning and administrative and operational capacity and by making progress on new and unfinished core infrastructure projects, inter alia construction works under the railway Corridor 8-d and the road Corridor 10;
Amendment 317 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33
Paragraph 33
33. Invites the authorities to urgently strengthen their capacity to manage and monitor pre-accession funds in order not to undermine implementation of the flagship projects; underlines that public investments into the infrastructure under a Growth Acceleration Plan for 2022- 2026 should boost regional employment and productivity;
Amendment 319 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34
Paragraph 34
34. Calls for further progress on climate protection, industrial pollution and risk management; urges the Government of North Macedonia to step up efforts on improving air quality and reducing air pollution; welcomes its ongoing steps to protect nature, increase recycling rates and modernise and expand its waste management system; recalls the EU’s support to the construction of the Skopje wastewater plant; encourages authorities to move forward with the national waste prevention plan, the law on industrial emissions, improve climate resilience polluter accountability; expresses support to the ongoing modernisation of civil preparedness capabilities of North Macedonia;