Dealing with corruption and protecting the financial interests of the state are among the key topics of interest for all citizens. In dealing with corruption, the focus is usually on the legal mechanisms, judicial institutions, and the justice enforcement systems, but they are not enough. Efficient management of public finances and good governance, in general, means the most appropriate and fair fulfilment of the priorities of the society with the resources available, which are not unlimited. Any management that does not have this mission in itself leaves more room for corruption. The discussions about corruption hide a great danger if this great anti-corruption debate does not contribute to the reduction of corruption. It is our responsibility to fix impunity, because impunity is one of the main problems that also destroys our system and opens up space for corruption to increase.
This was the focus of the debate at the session of the National Convention on the European Union (NKEU-MK) to fight against corruption and protect the financial interests of the state.
-Efficient management of public finances and good governance in general means the most appropriate and fair fulfilment of social priorities with the resources available to us, which are not unlimited. Good management means taking care of stability, building efficient institutions that meet the interests of citizens and creating conditions for socio-economic equality and progress. Any management that does not have this mission leaves more room for corruption, emphasized the deputy Prime Minister in charge of good governance policies, Slavica Grkovska, at the first session of the anti-corruption working group, formed within the project “National Convention on the European Union – Cluster 1”.
Grkovska pointed out that dealing with corruption and protecting the financial interests of the state are among the key topics of interest for all citizens and emphasized the importance of the civil sector, which through democratic debate and expertise contributes to the reform processes.
– Protecting the financial interests of the state, we protect the interests of the citizens, and their money. That is why it is extremely important to constantly increase the financial control and responsibility, by incorporating European regulations and practices and by further strengthening the transparency of public finances, said Grkovska, adding that in the field of transparency in recent years, the Government has made a significant step forward and continues in the direction of building a culture of active transparency in our institutions.
The efficient management of public finances, she emphasized, is in itself one of the strongest mechanisms for preventing corruption, and this should be taken into account in all efforts to eliminate negative and harmful impacts on society.
– It is a fact that this phenomenon is more common in less developed countries and that it harms the poorest the most. And that circle is what blocks the development opportunities. And sometimes it seems impossible to break. But it isn’t, because if the problem is in systemic weaknesses, in the lack of transparency and accountability, the solutions to the problems themselves are found in the same place. However, the complexity of corruption means that to deal with this phenomenon, there must be will and efforts at all levels and branches of the system,” Grkovska said.
According to her, we always somehow try to find the responsibility in someone else, and not in ourselves, and that, she said, is our biggest problem.
-And in this process, when we talk about getting closer to the EU, we need to accept what our obligations and responsibilities are. I have been saying this since the time when I was a member of parliament, since 2022, that we act as if someone is imposing reforms on us, and as if we are doing these reforms for the sake of someone else, not for ourselves. And that is a very different approach. I am strongly convinced that with such activities, we will succeed in raising awareness, that we are talking first about our responsibility, about our commitment. That it is initially our responsibility to implement system solutions. Our responsibility is to fix impunity because impunity is one of the main problems that also destroys our system and opens up space for increasing corruption, Grkovska is decisive.
Boris Vujcic, governor of the National Bank of Croatia and former deputy chief negotiator with the EU, gave a detailed overview of Croatia’s negotiation process with the Union.
– The negotiating team that negotiated all the chapters was formed primarily by experts, not by politicians, and was made up of professionals. I was the deputy chief negotiator and I can tell you that there was very little politics during the negotiation process, with the exception of political issues. It’s important, and our accession negotiations were quite different from other countries.
He recalled that Croatia entered the EU when there was a major economic and financial reconstruction of the euro architecture.
-During that crisis, we were still negotiating, new institutions were formed within the EU, and later we had to adopt that as well. Regarding the independence of the National Bank, all experts from our side had to be well aware of these occasions, political support was very important, without it it is difficult and would take a lot of time, Vujcic said.
He emphasized that membership in the EU has clear economic benefits, every year they have an increase, and the deficit is decreasing, and now, he said, we have a surplus plus. Undoubtedly, according to him, EU membership is beneficial for every country and with the entry into the EU, the export of small and medium-sized enterprises in Croatia has increased.
Regarding corruption, Vujcic said that corruption leads to misallocation of funds and the greater the corruption, the worse the allocation of funds.
– You have no cash flow and you have disturbed situations in society. Transparency is very important, it is more difficult to steal when there is light than to steal in the dark, emphasized Vujcic.
Mileva Gjurovska, National Coordinator of NCEU-MK and President of the European Movement in North Macedonia, said that the citizens have the right to participate in building their own future – especially in areas of vital importance.
– Citizens have the right to know how their money is spent. European standards will be learned faster by citizens if they are active stakeholders in the transposition process itself, as public policies or as legislation. In dealing with corruption, the focus is usually on legal mechanisms, judicial institutions, and justice enforcement systems, but probably, they are not enough. From the previous experience in the Convention, especially by reading the recommendations, it can be seen that the discussion always ended in the economic sphere, showing it as an important link in the dialogue. In essence, the economic chapters constitute over 70 per cent of the directives that should be transposed and implemented in the negotiation process, said Gjurovska.
However according to her, discussions about corruption hide a great danger in the event that this great anti-corruption debate does not contribute to the reduction of corruption.
– Without the understanding of the causes of corruption, without systematic knowledge of the types of corruption and the way institutions function, the chances of a successful fight against corruption will be lower. It is believed that the monopoly power of officials, discretionary rights and lack of accountability increases the likelihood of corruption. In our case, the debates should go in the direction of further building the relevant institutions whose direct competence is the prevention and fight against corruption and a clear definition of responsibility in terms of specifying personal responsibility in the line of hierarchy, she said.
NCEU-MK experts, recalled Gjurovska, point to the fact that the often applied practice of forming ad hoc bodies to solve existing problems gives modest positive results, with a big counter-effect that is visible in the inertia of the institutions. These temporary working bodies exclude institutions from their responsibility.
The session was held in the Club of Deputies, organized by the European Movement of North Macedonia, which through expert and open dialogue continuously contributes to issues related to accession negotiations for membership in the European Union and helps shape them in accordance with the wider public interest. The former Minister of Finance Dragan Tevdovski, Shenaj Hadzimustafa, professor of SEE, Aleksandar Krzhalovski and Snezhana Kamilovska Trpevska from MCMS and Viktor Mitevski from the Association for Research and Analysis-ZMAI participated in this session.
After the debate, recommendations were made in the direction of reducing the possibility of corruption and improving fiscal management and maintaining healthy public finances.
Among the recommendations are the establishment of a register for public-private partnerships and a register for concessions, the introduction of a balance sheet of the public sector, monitoring of the obligations undertaken by budget users in real-time, as well as strengthening the role of the parliament in determining and supervising the implementation of the budget of North Macedonia.