Macedonia's progress in conducting the decentralisation process, being one of the key political criteria for EU membership, was the main topic of Wednesday's meeting between Minister of Local Self-Government Nevzat Bejta and the European Parliament rapporteur for Macedonia, Richard Howitt.

After the meeting, both interlocutors said that decentralisation should not be seen as a transfer of authorisations from central to local elites, instead it should serve to improve services at local level. It is a process that refers to all Macedonian citizens, not only to certain ethnic communities, they concluded.

"Better services for the citizens, construction land management, increase of VAT by 4.5% for the municipalities are some of the accomplishments in the decentralisation process. However, other requests need to be met to increase the financial independence of the local self-government," Minister Bejta stated.

MEP Howitt underscored that decentralisation was a crucial process for Macedonia on the road to EU.

"I'm pleased that IPA funds are used that contribute to strengthening the capacities at local level," Howitt said.

UNDP Resient Representative Deirdre Boyd stated that the country in the past 10 years had made an exceptional breakthrough in the decentralisation process.