Western Balkans Competitiveness Outlook 2024: North Macedonia

12. Transport policy

Abstract

Through the development of a modern, sustainable, efficient, interoperable and integrated transport network, a sound transport policy can promote closer co-operation with neighbouring economies and be a key driver of competitiveness, both for North Macedonia as well as for the region. The first sub-dimension, planning and management, measures the extent to which an orderly, coherent, consistent and transparent process is in place for developing transport policy and implementing infrastructure projects. The second sub-dimension, regulation and connectivity, determines how sound transport modes and networks are regulated and operated and how they are leveraged to promote regional connectivity. The third sub‑dimension, sustainability, measures progress towards resource efficiency, environmental protection, reducing health impacts and increasing safety as well as social inclusion.

Key findings

Since the last CO assessment in 2021, North Macedonia has progressed in transport policy (Table 12.1). Very little progress has been made in improving the policy and planning framework or introducing effective project prioritisation and selection tools. Progress has been made in improving environmental sustainability through the adoption of the National Energy and Climate Plan and in efforts to contribute to regional connectivity.

Table 12.1. North Macedonia’s scores for transport policy

Dimension	Sub-dimension	2018 score	2021 score	2024 score	2024 WB6 average
Transport	11.1: Planning and management			1.9	2.6
	11.2: Regulation and connectivity			1.6	1.9
	11.3: Sustainability			1.8	2.1
North Macedonia’s overall score		2.0	1.8	1.8	2.2

The key findings are:

• The monitoring and evaluation of transport policies need to be improved. North Macedonia has been implementing its National Transport Strategy 2018-30 since 2018. No monitoring reports have been published since then, and it is unclear if monitoring is taking place or, if so, whether it is regular. The strategy has not been updated since its inception, which is concerning given its long-term horizon.

• North Macedonia’s single project pipeline (SPP) for selecting priority transport infrastructure projects has not been updated since 2018, putting into question its continued relevance for planning strategic transport investments.

• No project appraisal tools specifically for transport infrastructure have been developed. In their place, regulatory impact assessment (RIA) is used as a crosscutting policy assessment tool. Moreover, the general shortcomings of the administration in conducting effective RIA, such as administrative capacity constraints, further prevent this tool from being used consistently and effectively.

• Asset management systems for transport infrastructure are underdeveloped. Besides road transport, no asset management systems are in place for the other modes. However, the last road maintenance plan ended in 2017.

• North Macedonia’s National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) contains targets and measures to guide the decarbonisation of the transport sector. Several actions have been taken to contribute to greening transport, such as electrifying railways and introducing incentives for electric vehicles.

• North Macedonia has co-operated well with neighbouring economies to improve regional connectivity. It established common crossing points with Albania and Kosovo. Together with Serbia, North Macedonia inaugurated a joint integrated electronic toll payment system, facilitating the flow of people and goods between the two economies.

State of play and key developments

Sub-dimension 11.1: Planning and management

North Macedonia has implemented its National Transport Strategy (NTS) 2018-30 since 2018. The NTS sets out the transport vision for the economy and covers all transport modes. It plans for 104 actions with indicative timeframes. Monitoring of the NTS is foreseen on a two-year basis, yet no monitoring reports are publicly available, and it is unclear whether any form of monitoring is being implemented. Another cause for concern is that the strategy has not been updated or revised since its adoption, meaning that no actions can be taken to adjust the strategy and respond to potential challenges in implementation. A midterm evaluation is planned for 2024, which could address these shortcomings if conducted properly.

The National Transport Strategy does not mention or foresee the development of any methodology for transport project selection. North Macedonia has a single project pipeline (SPP), but it has not been updated since 2018, putting into question its continued use and relevance as a tool for project prioritisation. Regulatory impact assessment (RIA) is used not only for evaluating transport projects but also for the assessment of policies in general. It is not specific to transport or infrastructure projects and, therefore, cannot be considered a fully fledged project appraisal tool. As part of the RIA process, all government agencies and ministries must consider assessments of environmental, safety and economic impacts. However, due to insufficient resources, regulatory impact assessments are often considered as a formality rather than as a gauge of the potential impact of new policies and are therefore not always thoroughly conducted (European Commission, 2023[1]). No national cost-benefit analysis (CBA) guidelines have been developed, tailored to North Macedonia’s context and providing for adapted discount rates and benchmarks.

The procurement process for all transport infrastructure projects adheres to the regulations outlined in the Law on Public Procurement,1 last updated in 2021. North Macedonia is implementing its Strategy for developing the public procurement system 2022-26. During the strategy’s preparatory activities, in the context of the project “Strengthening Budget Planning, Execution and Internal Control Functions”, experts identified the main weaknesses of the procurement system and future challenges. Namely, they highlighted the lack of capacity for implementing good practices and limited official co‑operation among the key institutions in the procurement system. To transpose the Directive 2014/23/EU on the award of concession contracts, North Macedonia prepared the Draft Law on Public-Private Partnership to be adopted in the forthcoming period. Adoption of this Law could strengthen the capacity of the institutions responsible for acting in the field of public-private partnerships, and set the stage for the further development of alternative procurement methods (Ministry of Finance, 2022[2]).

An asset management system is still not in place for every transport mode. Public Enterprise State Roads is responsible for managing the Road Asset Management System (RAMS), which is currently used as the road databank and road reference system. At the end of 2021, a call for tender for the Bridge Management System was launched and is currently under development. The development of a Rail Infrastructure Management System (RIMS) is under the responsibility of the Public Enterprise Macedonian Railways, but the system is not yet operational.

Investment in road infrastructure was considerably higher in 2022 than investment in rail infrastructure (Table 12.2). This investment even surpasses the European Union (EU) and the OECD average regarding the share of GDP spent on road infrastructure in 2022. However, compared to 2019, investment in rail infrastructure increased by more than 50%, indicating an effort to improve the rail network. Maintenance spending decreased in 2022, and the share of GDP spent on maintenance is one-quarter of the EU and OECD area averages, showing the potential for further efforts towards infrastructure maintenance.

Table 12.2. Transport infrastructure investment and maintenance, North Macedonia (2019‑22)

	Investment					Maintenance
	Change 2019-22 (%)	Value in 2022 (million EUR)	% of GDP 2022 (%)	% of GDP, OECD 2021 (%)	% of GDP, EU 2021 (%)	Change 2019-22 (%)	Value in 2022 (million EUR)	% of GDP (2022)	% of GDP, OECD 2021 (%)	% of GDP, EU 2021 (%)
Road infrastructure	-21	192.46	1.49	0.57	0.59	-25	9.54	0.07	0.27	0.28
Rail infrastructure	54	27.64	0.21	0.30	0.30	-2	4.54	0.04	0.17	0.18

Note: OECD and EU averages represent the average value for the countries with available data.

Source: ITF (2024[3])

Sub-dimension 11.2: Governance and regulation

North Macedonia has advanced in updating and aligning its rail regulations more closely with the EU Rail Action Plan. At the end of 2023, North Macedonia approved amendments to the Railway System Law. This reform brought North Macedonia into compliance with the Transport Community Treaty and advanced harmonisation with the EU acquis (Transport Community, 2023[4]). Thanks to the new legislation, the rail market is now open at the domestic level, although there are no private operators in the market yet. The Railway Safety Law and Interoperability Law drafts have been finalised and are expected to be adopted in 2024.

At the end of 2023, the EU, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and European Investment Bank (EIB) announced a EUR 560 million package to complete Corridor VII connection to the Bulgarian border in North Macedonia. The project consists of constructing 24 kilometres of track between Kriva Palanka and the Bulgarian border and electing 88 kilometres of track between Kumanova and the border. The implementation of this project has the potential to enhance the connectivity between the economy and the European Union, with clear economic benefits (EBRD, 2023[5]).

The legal framework for road transport is broadly aligned with the EU acquis. However, North Macedonia has made little progress since the last CO assessment. The last five-year road maintenance plan ended in 2017, and there is no plan to update it (European Commission, 2023[1]). A legal entity to conduct a conformity assessment on the existing equipment for transporting dangerous goods is still missing. North Macedonia’s rail and road network utilisation are presented in Table 12.3. Between 2019 and 2022, rail network utilisation decreased for passenger and freight and is substantially lower than the EU average. In contrast, road network utilisation for freight transport increased during the same period and was higher than the EU average. The road network utilisation for passenger transport remained almost unchanged between 2019 and 2022. This results in the fact that 98% of freight in North Macedonia is transported on roads, showing significant room for improvement in increasing the capacity for rail as a more environmentally sustainable mode of transport for freight.

Since the last CO assessment, regulatory reforms have continued in the field of aviation reforms. A new Aviation Act is under approval of the parliament; it will bring the law provisions into line with the standards and recommended practices of the Annexes to the Chicago Convention, the EU regulations and the directives of the European Common Aviation Area (ECAA) Agreement. Since January 2021, several bylaws were enacted, mainly for aircraft construction and maintenance and personnel requirements.

Table 12.3. Rail and road transport in North Macedonia and the EU (2019-22)

	Change MKD 2019-22 (%)	Value MKD 2(022)	Value EU (2021)
Rail network utilisation
Passengers (passenger-kilometres/km of track)	-26	0.05	0.99
Freight (tonne-kilometres/km of track)	-18	0.32	2.02
Road network utilisation
Passenger (passenger-kilometres/road network)	-3	0.79	1.24
Freight (tonne-kilometres/road network)	26	0.96	0.60

Sources: European Commission (2023[6]); ITF (2024[7]).

The Single European Sky II (SES II) package remains partially transposed. While North Macedonia is not a member of any Functional Airspace Block (FAB), it is an observer of the DANUBE FAB and signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with the BLUE MED FAB (Eurocontrol, 2022[8]). North Macedonia has also signed agreements with Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia and Greece for radar data sharing. It has a bilateral agreement of co-ordination for the air traffic management with Bulgaria and an agreement with Albania regarding the delegation of air traffic services.

Since the last CO assessment, North Macedonia has co-operated well with several neighbouring economies to enhance regional connectivity. In July 2023, the one-stop-shop system at Kjafasan-Qafë Thanë border crossing with Albania was launched, easing the flow of people and goods through the border. As part of the Open Balkan initiative, North Macedonia and Serbia inaugurated the joint integrated electronic toll payment system at the Preshevo border crossing. This system allows electronic payment for citizens of Serbia and North Macedonia only by pre-registering on the Internet portal (Euronews, 2023[9]). North Macedonia and Kosovo agreed to establish common crossing points and avoid double checks (Koha, 2023[10]). Regarding rail transport, in November 2023, the railway section connecting Fushe Kosove/Kosovo Polje in central Kosovo to Hani i Elezit near the Macedonian border reopened after an overhaul (See News, 2023[11]). The call for tender was launched for building the Rail Joint Border Crossing station in Tabanovce, on the border with Serbia, on rail Corridor X (EBRD, 2023[12]). There is no progress on the Cross Border Agreement with Greece, which would support connectivity along a key transport corridor.

The National Transport Strategy aims to increase the importance of combined transport. A location near Skopje was pre-selected for establishing a multimodal transport node, and technical experts started working on setting it up. Relevant legislation still needs to be adopted, and electronic freight transport information exchange systems need to be created.

Continued efforts are observed in North Macedonia to support the development of smart transport systems. The National Strategy for Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) has been prepared and sent to the government for adoption (Transport Community, 2023[13]). The document includes 26 actions on legal, institutional and technological frameworks to implement ITS solutions according to European standards. It also allocates the necessary budget for each action and sets the timeline lasting to 2032 (Ministry of Transport and Communications, 2023[14]). In the second half of 2023, the Ministry of Transport and Communications launched a call for tender for the deployment of ITS on the south part of Corridor X. The project will be carried out in 2024. In 2024, the Macedonian Customs Administration plans to produce the New Computerized Transit System (NCTS) phase 5. This system must be part of the Convention on a Common Transit Procedure2.

Sub-dimension 11.3: Sustainability

North Macedonia has taken several steps to advance towards an environmentally sustainable transport system. The National Transport Strategy 2018-30 includes introducing green mobility and logistics focused on the environmental performance of the transport sector; the target is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transport by 5% in 2025 and 7% in 2030. The NTS suggests that this target can be achieved through environmentally friendly and low-carbon transport measures and by shifting freight and passenger transport from road to rail.

North Macedonia’s National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP), developed in 2020 and adopted following revision in 2022, strongly focuses on decarbonising transport through measures focusing on electrification, promoting biofuels, and energy efficiency. The NECP plans to increase the share of renewables in transport to 10% by 2030 (up from a very low baseline of 0.1% in 2018), and aims to reduce transport’s energy demand by 19% in the same timeframe.

The Energy Law implemented the provisions and obligations from the Third Energy Package of the EU regarding the Directive for Renewable Energy Sources and their use in transport. However, essential provisions regarding the use of biofuels have not yet been transposed. In 2021, the Ministry of Economy prepared a final draft of the Law on biofuels in transport. The draft Law passed the public consultation process, but its approval is still pending due to delays caused by COVID-19 and the energy crisis.

In 2021, the EBRD financed the construction of a new 10 kilometre-long motorway subsection from Skopje to Blace Interchange. This project catalyses the development of North Macedonia’s electric vehicle fleet and charging infrastructure. Building on these efforts, the EBRD is now also supporting North Macedonia by developing a national e-mobility strategy and action plan for deploying electric vehicles (EV) and charging infrastructure. At this time, EV penetration is progressing slowly, with only 0.02% of the car fleet being electric and 40 charging stations operating in North Macedonia (EBRD, 2022[15]). As mentioned above, in 2024, 88 kilometres of tracks between Kumanovo and the border with Bulgaria will be electrified (EBRD, 2023[5]).

North Macedonia has no stand-alone road safety policy, as its previous road safety strategy expired in 2020. However, one of the main objectives of the National Transport Strategy 2018‑30 is the safety of all transport modes. The draft Law on Road Safety includes establishing a high-level co-ordination body consisting of experts and the Road Safety Agency. The Agency will be responsible for drafting a new Road Safety Strategy. The Ministry of the Interior is responsible for collecting road safety data. The quality of collected data is improving but is still not fully compliant with the Common Accident Data Set (CADaS). Road deaths decreased by 6% in 2022 compared to 2019 and 2012 (Table 12.4). The mortality rate per one million inhabitants is slightly higher than the EU average.

Table 12.4. Road Safety in North Macedonia and the EU (2012-22)

	Change 2012-22 (%)	Change 2019-22 (%)	Value 2022
Change in the number of road fatalities (MKD)	-6	-6
Change in the number of road fatalities (EU)	-22	-9
Number of fatalities per million inhabitants (MKD)			60
Number of fatalities per million inhabitants (EU)			46

Sources: European Commission (2023[6]). North Macedonia data – Information provided by the government for the CO assessment.

Rail infrastructure safety includes the implementation and improvement of signalling equipment on collision spots and of the security of level crossings. The draft of the new Railway System Law is finalised as well as the drafting of the Railway Safety Law and Interoperability Law.

The principle of mobility for all is included in North Macedonia’s NTS. This principle aims to increase the inclusiveness of the transport system and ensure that it is just and fair. This principle serves as a crosscutting element of the strategy. It aims to provide transport accessibility to disadvantaged groups through financial and physical means (such as refurbishment and infrastructure adaptation). Despite this crosscutting focus on improving transport accessibility, the ambition and comprehensiveness of measures to attain this goal are limited. Moreover, due to the lack of monitoring and evaluation of the NTS, progress toward their implementation and impact cannot be adequately measured.

Overview of implementation of Competitiveness Outlook 2021 recommendations

Overall, North Macedonia has made limited progress in following up on the Recommendations of the CO Assessment 2021 (Table 12.5). Since 2021, the economy has demonstrated progress in facilitating regional connectivity and enhancing transport sustainability. North Macedonia prepared the National Strategy for Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) with 26 actions that allocated budgets and timelines. While the Macedonian National Transport Strategy 2018-30 shows good intentions towards sustainability, safety and smart transport, no reports or evaluations are available to assess the plans' advancement. Governance reforms include aligning rail regulations with the EU and opening the rail market domestically. North Macedonia needs to finalise the adoption of the Law on Road Safety and establish the Road Safety Agency. It will then be possible to prepare a new Road Safety Strategy.

Table 12.5. North Macedonia’s progress on past recommendations for transport policy

Competitiveness Outlook 2021 recommendations	Progress status	Level of progress
Develop a national centralised monitoring system	No reports or evaluations are available to assess the advancement of the plans in the NTS 2018-30.	None
Update the National Transport Strategy every four years	The strategy has not been updated since 2018.	None
Develop and tailor cost-benefit analysis guidelines specifically for North Macedonia	No national CBA guidelines have been developed for North Macedonia.	None
Develop a tool for project identification, selection, prioritisation and implementation	The Regulatory Impact Assessment is used for project selection. It is not specific to transport projects. The single project pipeline (SPP) has not been updated since 2018.	Limited
Ensure that transport facilitation remains a key priority	Several agreements have been signed and adopted to improve regional connectivity and enhance transport facilitation. While the practical progress of these agreements remains slow, their adoption suggests willingness and efforts to improve regional connectivity.	Moderate
Implement asset management principles in the transport sector in line with the national inventory system	The Road Asset Management System (RAMS) exists only for road. North Macedonia does not have asset management systems in place for other modes of transport. The Bridge Management System is currently under development.	Limited
Develop an integrated environment and transport action plan and a framework for environmental sustainability for the sector	North Macedonia adopted its revised NECP in 2022, which includes targets and measures to reduce the transport sector's carbon footprint and improve its environmental sustainability. Several actions have been taken to enhance the sustainability of the transport sector. These include electrifying railways, using renewable energy for public transport, and incentivizing EVs.	Strong

The way forward for transport policy

To implement key reforms that are holding back the potential of North Macedonia’s transport sector and its successful future development, policy makers should:

• Ensure proper monitoring and evaluation of the NTS and use the chance to keep the framework up to date. The planned evaluation of the NTS, foreseen towards the end of 2024, is an opportunity to take stock of the strategy’s implementation, identify main challenges and correct them for the next implementation period. This occasion also offers the opportunity to potentially update the strategy with new developments and policy considerations, which might be relevant given its long-term scope. Going forward, regular monitoring and evaluation practices should be ensured, and monitoring reports should be publicly available to enhance the credibility and accountability of the government’s transport policy agenda for key stakeholders, such as donors and citizens.

• Update the single project pipeline and reinforce its importance in the planning and project selection system. North Macedonia should ensure that it regularly updates its SPP, including for transport infrastructure projects. The importance of the SPP as the main document identifying and planning for strategic transport infrastructure projects should be further reinforced.

• Develop a tool for transport project selection. Instead of relying on regulatory impact assessment, North Macedonia should develop and adopt a consistent framework for transport options generation and project selection that will feed projects under the SPP. The framework should assess the range of impacts – environmental, accessibility, connectivity, safety, economic, resilience, distributional/equity and social – of proposed transport infrastructure projects.

• Establish asset management systems. A systematic and well-documented asset management system is an integral component of the transport planning, identification, prioritisation, implementation, and monitoring processes. The key objective of a well-developed asset management system should be to provide justification for the maintenance budget and help direct limited funds towards those areas where the return on investment will be greatest.

• Develop national CBA guidelines for all transport modes. A CBA allows for weighing the costs of a project versus its projected outcomes (positive impacts and externalities); it is frequently used for comparing options/alternatives and identifying the most beneficial and least costly ones. National guidelines can ensure that the proposed discount rates and relevant benchmarks are tailored to North Macedonia’s context and economic environment.

• Ensure alignment and complementarity of measures for greening transport under different policy documents. North Macedonia’s NECP provides targets and measures to decarbonise transport and ensure its environmental sustainability. The evaluation and update of the NTS, an older document, should examine whether its measures are still relevant now that the NECP is in place. Such an assessment should seek to eliminate potential overlap between measures and ensure that measures implemented under the NECP and under the NTS are complementary.

• Continue efforts to improve road safety, chiefly through adopting a new Road Safety Strategy and creating a Road Safety Agency. Data collection on road safety can be further enhanced by adopting a safe system approach and developing safety performance indicators (Box 12.1).

Box 12.1. Adopting the Safe System Approach and safety performance indicators for improved road safety

In the past decade, the International Transport Forum (ITF) has promoted the adoption of the Safe System Approach to road safety. This approach can drastically reduce road fatalities and is endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly. It now forms the basis for the new Global Plan for the Decade of Action on Road Safety 2021-30. The Safe System Approach is a proactive approach to road safety; it is preventive and predicated on the notion that people make mistakes and that these errors can result in traffic crashes. It seeks to identify and proactively address vulnerabilities in the transportation system in a holistic manner. Adopting the Safe System Approach is a concrete step that the WB6 economies can take to improve road safety outcomes.

The Safe System Approach requires road safety authorities to collect, analyse and use accurate road safety data and develop safety performance indicators (SPIs). The European Commission developed a list of SPIs with the corresponding methodology in the project baseline. These safety performance indicators relate to driving behaviours, such as following speed limits, drunk driving, and seat belt usage. Indicators related to vehicles, infrastructure and trauma are also important. Road safety improvement can be further accelerated by identifying distinct at-risk user groups – or vulnerable user groups – and implementing safety performance indicators to improve road safety outcomes. The ITF report recommends SPIs tailored for vulnerable road users such as pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists. Implementing SPIs specific to these groups can help the WB6 economies advance on the Road Safety Action Plan goal of protecting Vulnerable Road Users.

Sources: ITF (2023[16]; 2022[17]).

References

[5] EBRD (2023), North Macedonia: EU, EIB and EBRD Support Railway Network to Complete Corridor VIII Connection to Bulgarian Border, https://www.ebrd.com/news/2023/north-macedonia-eu-eib-and-ebrd-support-railway-network-to-complete-corridor-viii.

[12] EBRD (2023), Project Summary Document: Rail Joint Border Crossing - Tabanovce, https://www.ebrd.com/work-with-us/projects/psd/54676.html.

[15] EBRD (2022), North Macedonia – TEN-T Skopje-Kosovo border motorway, https://www.ebrd.com/what-we-do/project-information/board-documents/1395307567457/TEN-T_Skopje-Kosovo_Border_Motorway_Project_Board_Report.pdf?blobnocache=true.

[8] Eurocontrol (2022), Local Single Sky Implementation 2022 – North Macedonia, https://www.eurocontrol.int/sites/default/files/2023-04/eurocontrol-lssip-2022-north-macedonia.pdf.

[9] Euronews (2023), Serbia and North Macedonia Inaugurate Integrated Electronic Toll Payment System., https://euronews.al/en/serbia-and-north-macedonia-inaugurate-integrated-electronic-toll-payment-system/#:~:text=Serbia%20and%20North%20Macedonia%20inaugurate%20integrated%20electronic%20toll%20payment%20system,-COMMENTS&text=Serbian%20Prime%20Minister%20A.

[18] European Commission (2023), Commission Staff Working Document, North Macedonia 2023 Report, https://neighbourhood-enlargement.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2023-11/SWD_2023_693%20North%20Macedonia%20report.pdf.

[1] European Commission (2023), North Macedonia 2023 Report, https://neighbourhood-enlargement.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2023-11/SWD_2023_693%20North%20Macedonia%20report.pdf (accessed on 24 January 2024).

[6] European Commission (2023), Road Safety in the EU: Fatalities Below Pre-Pandemic Levels but Progress Remains too Slow, https://transport.ec.europa.eu/news-events/news/road-safety-eu-fatalities-below-pre-pandemic-levels-progress-remains-too-slow-2023-02-21_en.

[3] ITF (2024), Transport Infrastructure Investment and Maintenance Spending, https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=ITF_INV-MTN_DATA. (accessed on 7 June 2024).

[7] ITF (2024), Transport Measurement, https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=ITF_GOODS_TRANSPORT (accessed on 7 June 2024).

[16] ITF (2023), Using Safety Performance Indicators to Improve Road Safety: The Case of Korea, International Transport Forum Policy Papers, https://www.itf-oecd.org/sites/default/files/docs/safety-performance-indicators-road-safety-korea_0.pdf.

[17] ITF (2022), The Safe System Approach in Action, Research Report, https://www.itf-oecd.org/safe-system-approach-action-experience-based-guide-enhanced-road-safety.

[10] Koha (2023), Kosovo and North Macedonia Sign for the Establishment of Common Border Points, https://www.koha.net/en/arboretum/392319/Kosovo-and-North-Macedonia-sign-for-the-establishment-of-joint-border-points/.

[2] Ministry of Finance (2022), Public Financial Management Reform Programme 2022-2025, https://finance.gov.mk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/PFM-Reform-Programme-2022-2025-EN-Struktuirana-1-8-za-WEB-1.pdf.

[14] Ministry of Transport and Communications (2023), Presentation of National ITS Strategy for Republic of North Macedonia, https://www.transport-community.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Ministry-of-transport-and-communications-WB-PP-presentation-MK-JH-JL-04.04.2023-Skopje.pdf.

[11] See News (2023), Kosovo Reopens after Overhaul Railway Section to North Macedonia Border, https://seenews.com/news/kosovo-reopens-after-overhaul-railway-section-to-n-macedonia-border-838977 (accessed on 7 June 2024).

[13] Transport Community (2023), Action Plans and the EU Acquis Progress Report 2023, https://www.transport-community.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Action-Plans-and-EU-Acquis-Progress-Report-2023-WEB.pdf.

[4] Transport Community (2023), North Macedonia Advances its Rail Market by Adopting New Legislation, https://www.transport-community.org/news/north-macedonia-advances-its-rail-market-by-adopting-new-legislation/.

Notes

← 1.  Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia No. 24/19, amended with Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia No. 87/21.

← 2.  The Convention on a Common Transit Procedure provides the legal framework setting out the obligations on traders and customs authorities for goods in customs transit from one contracting party to another. For more information. Please see: https://customs.gov.mk/en-GB/pocetna/e-carina/nkts-5.nspx.