2023 and 2024 Commission reports on North Macedonia

Wording as published by the EP, in English.

1. Amendment 1Rejected

   Recital C

   Tabled by Konstantinos Arvanitis · The Left

   … 210 million in macro-financial assistance loans since 2020, aimed at stabilising the Removed: Macedonian economy, Added: economy of North Macedonia, aiding its recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and accelerating its reform progress;

2. Amendment 3Rejected

   Paragraph 8

   Tabled by Konstantinos Arvanitis, Giorgos Georgiou · The Left

   Removed: 8. Repeats its calls for the EU’s capacity to act to be enhanced through a reform of its decision-making, including through the introduction of qualified majority voting on the intermediate steps in the accession process, in particular at the start of negotiations and the opening and closing of individual negotiating clusters and chapters; Added: deleted

3. Amendment 4Rejected

   Paragraph 29

   Tabled by Konstantinos Arvanitis · The Left

   … certain Chinese diplomatic entities have financed paid content and opinion pieces in Removed: Macedonian media outlets Added: media outlets of North Macedonia without clear labelling; recalls that a 2023 analysis found that Russian state-affiliated …

4. Amendment 5Adopted

   Paragraph 68

   Tabled by Konstantinos Arvanitis · The Left

   … support in North Macedonia, including strategic infrastructure projects such as the Rail Removed: Corridor VIII, Added: Corridors VIII and X, the Skopje wastewater treatment plant, and municipal water infrastructure development; calls for …

5. Amendment 6Adopted

   Paragraph 76

   Tabled by Konstantinos Arvanitis · The Left

   76. Welcomes the progress made in the construction of Removed: the Corridor VIII Added: Corridor VIII and Corridor X of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) and commends the completion of the …

6. Amendment 7Rejected

   Paragraph 85 a (new)

   Tabled by Sarah Knafo, Alexander Sell · ESN

   Added: 85a. Opposes North Macedonia’s accession to the European Union;

7. Amendment 8Rejected

   Citation 25 a (new)

   Tabled by Ivaylo Valchev · ECR

   Added: – having regard to the Protocol of the second session of the Joint Intergovernmental Commission set up under Article 12 of the Treaty of friendship, good neighbourly relations and cooperation between the Republic of Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia, held on 17 July 2022,

8. Amendment 9Rejected

   Recital H a (new)

   Tabled by Ivaylo Valchev · ECR

   Added: Ha. whereas finding a shared narrative on their common history is the necessary foundation on which Bulgaria and North Macedonia should build their relations; whereas the relationship between the future generations of North Macedonia and Bulgaria will be a reflection of the educational processes in the two countries;

9. Amendment 15Rejected

   Paragraph 37

   Tabled by Ivaylo Valchev · ECR

   … on North Macedonia in order to effectively address the human rights violations Removed: identified; Added: targeting the Bulgarian community in the country;

10. Amendment 16Rejected

    Paragraph 45 a (new)

    Tabled by Ivaylo Valchev · ECR

    Added: 45a. Deplores the increasing discrimination against Macedonian Bulgarians, which include, among other examples, the arson of the Bulgarian ‘Ivan Mihaylov’ cultural club NGO in Bitola in June 2022, the shooting at the Bulgarian ‘Tsar Boris III’ cultural club NGO in Ohrid in November 2022, the attack against the Bulgarian State Cultural and Information Centre in Skopje, which was broken into in March 2023, and above all, the severe beating of Christian Pendikov in January 2023, who was attacked because of his Bulgarian ethnicity, as noted by the Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office in Ohrid; condemns, in the strongest possible terms, such violent hate crimes;

11. Amendment 17Rejected

    Paragraph 78 a (new)

    Tabled by Ivaylo Valchev · ECR

    Added: 78a. Urges the North Macedonian Government to swiftly publish all texts already agreed by the Joint Multidisciplinary Expert Commission on Historical and Educational Issues in the respective languages of Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia, and in English, as agreed under the Second Protocol to the Treaty of friendship, good neighbourly relations and cooperation, in which both countries committed to publish on their government websites, within a period of one month upon signing the Protocol on 17 July 2022, all the results and recommendations to date of the work of the Joint Multidisciplinary Expert Commission;

12. Amendment 19Rejected

    Paragraph 7 a (new)

    Tabled by Thomas Waitz · Verts/ALE

    Added: 7a. Acknowledges the existence of differing interpretations concerning the origins of the Macedonian language and identity; underscores that its report does not aim to prejudge or constrain scholarly discourse on these matters nor do such interpretations bear influence on Parliament’s assessment of North Macedonia’s progress towards EU accession, which remains anchored in the Copenhagen criteria and the principles of good neighbourly relations, and in line with the criteria agreed in the Council conclusions of July 2022;

13. Amendment 20Adopted

    Recital L

    Tabled by Andrzej Halicki · PPE

    L. Removed: whereas the EU has consistently demonstrated its recognition of the Macedonian language and identity; Added: deleted

14. Amendment 21Adopted

    Paragraph 3

    Tabled by Andrzej Halicki · PPE

    … once the conditions of its conclusions of 18 July 2022 have been Removed: fulfilled, while fully respecting the Macedonian language and identity; Added: fulfilled; encourages all political parties in North Macedonia to engage in constructive dialogue …

15. Amendment 22Adopted

    Paragraph 7

    Tabled by Andrzej Halicki · PPE

    7. Removed: Affirms the importance of unequivocally recognising and respecting the Macedonian language and identity as an integral part of the nation’s heritage and constitutional order, but also of European values; notes that the European institutions, in country reports and official documents, consistently refer to the Macedonian language in line with international recognition and the implementation of the Prespa Agreement; reaffirms Added: Reaffirms that the respect for linguistic, cultural and national identity is a fundamental …

16. Amendment 24Rejected

    Paragraph 6 a (new)

    Tabled by Afroditi Latinopoulou · PfE

    Added: 6a. Calls on the Commission to ensure that all candidate countries fully respect the sovereignty, constitutional identity and cultural heritage of the existing Member States and hence refrain from any action that comes at the expense of these established EU values or agreements;

17. Amendment 25Rejected

    Paragraph 8

    Tabled by Pierre-Romain Thionnet, Matthieu Valet, Afroditi Latinopoulou · PfE

    8. Removed: Repeats its calls for the EU’s capacity to act to be enhanced through a reform of its decision-making, including through the introduction of qualified majority voting on the intermediate steps in the accession process, in particular at the start of negotiations and the opening and closing of individual negotiating clusters and chapters; Added: Calls for the enlargement process not to be used as a means of undermining the sovereignty of the Member States and for unanimity voting in the Council to be retained for all decisions on foreign policy issues, including enlargement;

18. Amendment 26Rejected

    Paragraph 31 a (new)

    Tabled by Afroditi Latinopoulou · PfE

    Added: 31a. Calls on the state authorities to ensure that school curricula, textbooks and public discourse are free of historical revisionism, hate speech or misrepresentation of Member States that are its neighbours, in particular Greece and Bulgaria;

19. Amendment 27Rejected

    Paragraph 79 a (new)

    Tabled by Afroditi Latinopoulou · PfE

    Added: 79a. Condemns the recurring instances of public or official misuse of the name ‘Macedonia’ by government officials, public institutions, international fora and sports federations; affirms that the historical region of Macedonia is an integral part of Greek history, culture, identity and of the modern Greek state, and that any appropriation of this heritage constitutes a form of cultural falsification that cannot be tolerated by the EU;

20. Amendment 28Rejected

    Paragraph 79 b (new)

    Tabled by Afroditi Latinopoulou · PfE

    Added: 79b. Calls on all political actors of the country to unequivocally reject any form of historical revisionism or territorial claims against neighbouring countries, including irredentist rhetoric; underlines that good neighbourly relations must be grounded in the inviolability of borders and mutual respect;