The Path of the Republic of North Macedonia Towards a Functional Market Economy and the Ability to Cope With Competitive Pressure and Market Forces Within the European Union

The path of the Republic of North Macedonia towards European Union (EU) membership has been long and difficult, with blockades from neighbouring countries and internal political instability that has hindered both the reform processes and the economic progress of the country. However, despite the difficulties and obstacles, the country remains determined and committed to continue its EU membership path through by implementing EU standards. North Macedonia started negotiations for membership in the EU in 2022, and, on that occasion, the European Commission began the screening process. However, the negotiation process on the horizon is not looking easy at all, since the Government is not only faced with the fulfilment of the demands as reached in an address by the Commission, but Bulgaria continues to insist on concrete results from the fulfilment of the obligations received from North Macedonia in a friendship agreement reached with Bulgaria in 2017. The purpose of this study is to shed light on North Macedonia’s ups and downs in this situation, which result from both external factors (disagreements with neighbours such as Greece and Bulgaria) and internal factors (the approach of certain Macedonian governments at certain stages to face demands in order to overcome disputes with neighbours in the name of Euro-integrations). The author intends to achieve such a goal through the selected methodology that is suitable for achieving the expected results and findings; empirical methods, analysis and synthesis, data collection and processing, the interpretation of results, and historical, comparative, inductive, and deductive methods. The most recent report from the Commission for North Macedonia (2023) finds essential treatment in this paper, with Cluster 2 and Cluster 3 being of interest for this study. The author concludes that the content of this report turns out to be not only an overview of the current situation in which North Macedonia finds itself, but also provides recommendations for improving the situation in the spheres and segments where either stagnation or a lack of progress has been detected.