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North Macedonia

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Europe

1.73

Environmental Democracy Index Score

North Macedonia, a party to the Aarhus Convention, scored well overall on the EDI legal indicators. It scored very well on the Transparency pillar, well on the Participation pillar, and fair on the Justice pillar. With respect to transparency, there is a clear right to access environmental information on request and relevant government agencies must proactively make environmental information available to the public. North Macedonia scored well in public participation in part because the government must proactively seek public input on most environmental decisions. However, the score could be higher if opportunities for public participation were provided at an early stage and if public input was included in the preparation of programs that have a significant effect on the environment. North Macedonia’s lowest score was on the Justice pillar because while the law provides for review procedures for administrative or judicial review of the implementation of environmental laws, the public is not permitted to challenge private-actor decisions relating to the environment. Furthermore, there are no assistance mechanisms to address financial and gender-based barriers to justice, so that women and the poor can obtain redress when their environmental rights are violated. Addressing these issues would help North Macedonia’s national laws further promote the UNEP Bali Guidelines and environmental democracy.

Visit the Environmental Democracy Index to explore the EDI score.

The Republic of North Macedonia is a party to the Aarhus Convention and as a candidate country for European Union accession, the country undertakes all necessary steps to fulfill the European environmental acquis obligations. The TAI coalition in the Republic of Macedonia is led by the Center for Environmental Democracy- FLOROZON. Since its formation in 2008, the TAI coalition continuously working on promotion of the TAI network in Macedonia and disseminate information to resources for public briefing.

 

The Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning of the Republic of North Macedonia mentioned the work of TAI Macedonia in its second National Report on the Aarhus Convention, and the TAI Assessment that the national TAI coalition have conducted. This report was published and distributed to all governmental institutions, all representatives from nongovernmental organizations, and on the Ministry website www.moepp.gov.mk. Furthermore, under the TAI flag, CED Florozon has implemented several capacity building projects on access to justice in environmental matters directed to Macedonian Judiciary and the Office of the Ombudsmen. TAI Macedonia also participated in the 2014 Environmental Democracy Index (EDI) and currently is implementing project regarding the implementation of the Pollutant Release and Transfer Register Protocol in the Republic of Macedonia.