The General Secretariat provides professional and administrative support for the uninterrupted work of the Government.
Mission
The General Secretariat is the professional service of the Government, with the basic task of providing coordination, professional and logistical support to the Government as a whole, for the needs of the President of the Government, the Deputy Presidents of the Government and members of the Government, with the aim of implementing the program decisions and priorities of the Government within the framework of the competences established by the Constitution of the Republic of North Macedonia, laws and ratified international agreements.
Vision
Modern, digitized, and transparent centre of the Government devoted to achieving the strategic priorities and objectives of the Government.
The tasks and obligations of the General Secretariat are defined in the Law on Government the (link) Rules of Procedure of the Government (link), the Rules of Procedure of the Government (link) and the Rules of Internal Organization of the General Secretariat (link) and pursuant to those, the General Secretariat:
ü Is in charge of monitoring the degree of realization of the strategic planning documents;
ü Coordinates the harmonization of the materials pursuant to the provisions of the Rules of Procedure of the Government, the strategic priorities, and objectives of the Government, as well as the strategic documents from the areas to which the material refers, and mutual agreement on materials under the authority of the ministries;
ü Within the frames of the monitoring of the realization of the strategic planning documents, representatives of the Office of the President of the Government, ministries, as well as other state bodies and institutions, can be included in this process;
ü If the General Secretariat concludes that the degree of realization of the strategic documents is low, the Secretary General immediately informs the President of the Government, the ministers, and other appointed and elected persons accountable to the Government;
ü Keeps proper management of records, as well as the archiving of materials in the Government in accordance with the regulations for clerical and archival work, as well as the preservation of shorthand notes and audio recordings.
Secretary General
The General Secretariat is managed by the Secretary General, who ensures the legal, efficient and transparent work of the General Secretariat and issues professional instructions and acts regulating the organization and method of operation within the General Secretariat of the Government and decides, in accordance with the law, on the rights, duties and responsibilities of the employees of the General Secretariat.
The General Secretary has the rights and duties established by law and the Rules of Procedure, and in accordance with the instructions of the President of the Government, they perform tasks related to the organization and preparation of the meetings of the working bodies and the Government, as follows:
ü participates in the work of the sessions of the Government without the right to make decisions and covers procedural matters during the sessions of the Government;
ü cooperates with the ministries and other bodies of the state administration, especially in matters of strategic priorities, the National Development Strategy, other strategic planning documents, analysis, and evaluation of policies;
ü keeps track of the legal proposals that are submitted to the Government to contain an assessment of the impact of the regulations, in accordance with the Methodology for the assessment of the impact of the regulations and the Guidelines for the way of acting in the work of the ministries in the process of implementing the assessment of the impact of the regulations;
ü ensures that all proposals for laws and by-laws that are submitted to the Government contain a Declaration of Compliance with the legislation of the European Union;
ü ensures that the proposed laws and by-laws in which a certain measure is transposed to the European Union, which is submitted to the Government, except for the Declaration of compliance with the regulation with the legislation of the European Union, which must also contain the appropriate correspondence tables (EU-MK and MK-EU);
ü organizes the preparation and follow-up of the implementation of the Annual Program for Government work;
ü signs the conclusions of the Government, except for those signed by the President of the Government and delivers them to the ministries and other bodies of the state administration, as well as other state bodies and institutions and organizes the execution of the conclusions of the Government;
ü ensures the publication of the regulations and other acts of the Government in the "Official Gazette of the Republic of North Macedonia";
ü ensures the delivery of conclusions and acts passed by the Government to authorized proponents and other interested parties through the e-Government system, which is used for official delivery;
ü provides working conditions of the College of State Secretaries and the working bodies of the Government;
ü Ensures the implementation of cooperation and the fulfilment of the Government's obligations, prepares the other institutions, within the framework of its jurisdiction, and returns materials that are not prepared in accordance with the Rules of Procedure, which are not complete, as well as materials that are not under the jurisdiction of the Government.
The Secretary General has a deputy who help them in the performance of their duties and acts as their substitute in case of their absence or disability.
Program for work of the Government and strategic planning
The Government adopts the Program that the mandate holder proposed to the Assembly during the election of the Government, as the Mid-term Program for the work of the Government.
Within 60 days as of the date of adoption of the Government's Mid-Term Program for Work, the Ministries will inform the Government of the transfer of concrete activities under their authority, deadlines, and indicators of success through which the implementation of the Program will be followed.
The mid-term program for the Government's work is operationalized through the Annual Program for the Government's work. In the Annual Work Program of the Government and the Budget of the Republic of North Macedonia, the Government incorporates strategic priorities and fiscal policy, as well as obligations arising from laws, development strategic planning documents, sectoral strategies and the process of accession of the Republic of North Macedonia to the European Union.
The General Secretariat prepares the Proposal for the Annual Work Program for the Government, on the basis of the initiatives of the main budget users, follows its implementation and prepares a semi-annual and annual report, which it submits to the Government for discussion.
On the basis of the Annual Work Program, the Government establishes and submits to the Assembly a semi-annual legislative review, with proposals for laws and other acts on which the Assembly decides.
The government, at its thematic session, reviews the Semi-Annual and Annual Report on the implementation of the Annual Work Program and the Legislative Review.
Strategic planning
The Government makes a decision to determine strategic priorities for a period not shorter than five years, in accordance with the Law on Budgets and the Methodology for Strategic Planning and Preparation of the Annual Work Program of the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia, which is adopted by the Government.
The General Secretariat coordinates the process of strategic planning for the main budget users and, in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance, provides detailed instructions and deadlines for the preparation of the strategic plan.
The General Secretariat is responsible for the establishment and development of sector planning, providing a unified system for the preparation and monitoring of the implementation of sector strategies in accordance with the Methodology for the preparation, implementation, monitoring, reporting and evaluation of sector strategies and the Guidelines for the structure, content and method of preparation, implementation, monitoring, reporting and evaluation of the sectoral strategy adopted by the Government.