Take a quick look of what was said in the EU Progress Report about civil society in Macedonia: Civil society: An empowered civil society is a crucial component of any democratic system and should be recognised and treated as such by the government. There have been formal improvements in terms of legislation and consultation mechanisms, but civil society organisations continue to express concern about the difficult climate in which they operate and the limited government commitment to dialogue. The Secretariat for European Affairs took steps to improve consultation of and coordination with civil society organisations. The government’s second Strategy and Action Plan for cooperation with civil society was inadequately implemented, due to a lack of political commitment, administrative capacity and resources. Preparations for setting up an advisory council on cooperation with civil society, one of the main obligations in the government Strategy and the open government action plan, have not yet started. The code of good practice for participation of civil society organisations in policymaking processes has been applied inconsistently, with the result that the consultation process has largely continued to be a formality. Granting of state funds to civil society organisations has not yet been fully regulated, leaving the sector largely dependent on donor funding. The relevant laws related to financing and tax incentives for the civil sector remain complex and inconsistent. The new law on money laundering and financing terrorism no longer imposes an obligation on CSOs to prepare annual programmes, or stipulates fines disproportionate to their annual budgets. Civil society in rural areas remains underdeveloped. Civil society organisations have started to coordinate more with one another on specific topics, such as IPA II, and have proposed more structured mechanisms for consulting with the government, based on the sectoral approach. Read the whole report at the link below:
Posted on: Fri, 10 Oct 2014 10:45:11 +0000
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