Public debate at the National European Integration Council on the use of EU funds

In order to improve the engagement of the Parliament in monitoring of the use of EU funds, the Institute for European Policy has started the realization of the yearlong program “IPA monitoring”, with the aim to initiate public debate and offer specific recommendations, through facts-based research.

Within the framework of this program, the Institute for European Policy, in collaboration with the Friedrich Ebert Foundation- Skopje conducted a research on the use of EU funds in the Republic of Macedonia. The goal of this research is to identify the efficacy of the use of financial means of the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA), its influence, as well as the assessment of the absorption capacities of the Republic of Macedonia.

Aiming at producing a qualitative study, a call for applications was opened for all interested researchers in Macedonia, holding a relevant research experience in the given field, by handing in a project proposal within one of the five IPA components, referring to one specific segment (I. support for transition and institution-building, II. cross-border cooperation, III. regional development, IV. human resources development, V. rural development), or one analyzing the absorption capacities of the country.

A total of twelve proposals were handed in, out of which six research proposals were chosen, in line with the pre-defined selection criteria and the relevance of the project.

During the preparation, mentorship as well as collaboration was enabled with two foreign experts in the field, Professor Mojmir Mrak, University of Ljubljana, the Repuplic of Slovenia and with consultant from the Center for Economic and Social Analyses from Bratislava, Slovakia.