The analysis of the area, prepared by Ms. Katarzyna Majcher, National Coordinator for Transposition of EU Law from Poland, engaged as an expert by the Nordic Support for Progress of North Macedonia, pointed out the main legal gaps in the Draft Law for mutual recognition of professional qualifications and provided practical recommendations for changes to the law. This gap analysis provides a legislative overview of overarching national legal documents that should be amended in order to meet the criteria and achieve full compliance with the respective EU directives. The draft law is just a starting point of the transposition of EU legislation and should mark the start of the comprehensive process of recognition of professional qualifications.
Different steps towards the process of recognition of mutual qualifications have been undertaken in the past years. The process now continues with the preparation of the draft law, but, also with development of secondary legislation and an action plan for implementation. Parallel to this, the inter-sectorial body will continue to work on the list of the regulated professions, that should include more than 300 professions. Even though, the citizens of North Macedonia will be able to exercise this right after full accession in the EU, the completion of the process prior to the EU accession will significantly strengthen national institutions and will increase the quality of the training system for some professions.
The mutual recognition of the professional qualifications is in the core of the main principles of the European Union. This process provides the framework for exercising the fundamental freedoms of the single market and freedom of movement of qualified professionals.
