North Macedonia’s Assembly is a unicameral parliament (120-123 Members of Parliament (MPs), elected every four years - last in December 2016, of which 38 women MPs). In the past, the work of the Assembly has been characterised by ineffective oversight, limited debate on legislation, and little interaction with civil society. With a recent change in power and a faster approximation towards the EU the Parliament leadership - with Swiss support - has adopted a comprehensive Strategic Plan (2019-2021) aimed at developing the Assembly’s functional capacities, openness and transparency and effective legislative services.  

The project will directly target MPs, the Parliamentary Service and to a limited extent CSOs and citizens as main counterparts in its implementation.

All citizens and civil society, including marginalised groups (the poor, women, youth, ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, LGBTI) are the beneficiaries of PSP.

Outcome 1: The Assembly operates more effectively, inclusively and professionally due to improved institutional and political capacities.

Outcome 2: The Assembly implements predictable and transparent rules and procedures and increases analytical capacities to more effectively perform oversight and legislative functions.

Outcome 3: The Assembly’s improved transparency and accountability practices enable citizens and CSOs, including marginalized groups, to increase their engagement with the Assembly

Principaux résultats attendus:  

- improved organisation of and upgrade of methodological processes and  technological tools for the Parliamentary Service 

- regular informal and formal policy dialogue 

- predictable parliamentary calendar 

- ex-post and ex-ante legislative analysis (focus on regulatory impact assessments and fiscal scrutiny); increased capacities of MPs to review and debate laws and of staff to support committees 

- revision of regulatory framework on oversight 

- improved regulatory framework for involvement of citizens/CSOs

- upgrade of the parliament website, e-parliament system, provision of on-demand searchable video recordings of plenary and committee sessions

- civic education to citizens including marginalised groups on their civic rights and responsibilities in the policy making process.

Principaux résultats antérieurs:  

- average grade of citizen trust in the Assembly is 4.5 (on a scale of 1 to 8). 

- 42% MP discussions with one or more arguments; 

- only 29% of citizens perceive the parliament to have control over the executive. 

- No laws currently adopted based on a predictable calendar, only 30% passed using regular procedure 

- 37% of citizens believe parliament is open to citizens

- Parliament has a static website and no post-factum searchable video recordings of parliamentary sessions (only live broadcasts)

Phase 1 01.11.2017 - 31.08.2023   (Completed)