Presentation of the EU Twinning project “Support to the Implementation of the Modernised Data Protection Legal Framework in North Macedonia”

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Published: July 20, 2021

On July 1st, Tuesday, an official online presentation of the Twinning project Support to the Implementation of the Modernised Data Protection Legal Framework MK 18 IPA JH 01 20 EuropeAid/170648/DD/ACT/MK was held during the online meeting of the project partners. The leading member state in the project is the Republic of Croatia, represented by the Croatian Personal Data Protection Agency which will be co-operating with the Central Finance and Contracting Agency (CFCA) and the German Foundation for International Legal Cooperation (IRZ), acting as the Junior project partner. The beneficiary institution is the Personal Data Protection Agency of the Republic of North Macedonia.

The budget of the project amounts to 700,000 EUR and it will be implemented within 15 months. The aim of the Twinning project is to further improve the implementation of personal data protection and the national personal data protection system in North Macedonia in line with the European acquis. The Project Leader is Mr Igor Vulje, deputy director of the Croatian Personal Data Protection Agency. The Junior Project Leader is Mr Lukas Gundermann, legal advisor with the Federal Ministry of Justice and for Consumer Protection.

During the presentation of the project, in his opening speech, the Director of the Croatian Personal Data Protection Agency, Mr Zdravko Vukic, thanked for the trust and opportunity to implement this Twinning project in North Macedonia.

“We understand the difficulties that you are facing on your way, because we were recently facing similar ones. Together with our experienced German colleagues, we can face these challenges successfully, and support you on your path towards the European Union. I would like to thank our partners in this project, the German Foundation for International Legal Cooperation (IRZ), the Croatian Central Finance and Contracting Agency and our German colleagues for the partnership in this project and we are looking forward to our successful cooperation. I am confident that this project, will provide a solid foundation for future work of the North Macedonian Personal Data Protection Agency and other relevant North Macedonian institutions in the area of data protection“, emphasized Mr Vukić.

The Director of the Personal Data Protection Agency of North Macedonia, Mr Imer Aliu, who is also the Project Leader of the beneficiary, thanked everyone for their support and stressed that the Twinning project starts at a crucial time for the Agency, as the process of harmonising other relevant acts with the new Law on Personal Data Protection ends in August.

“The Agency has been established 16 years ago and is constantly developing. This project is very important for strengthening the institutional capacity of the Agency. The Agency has an experienced and dedicated team that will cooperate with the colleagues and experts from Croatia and Germany, and the successful and fruitful cooperation will continue after the completion of the project”, Mr Aliu pointed out.