On July 1 st, Tuesday, it was held 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 during the online meeting of the project partners. The leading member state in the project is the Republic of Croatia, Croatian Personal Data Protection Agency which will be co-operating with Central Finance and Contracting Agency (CFCA) and 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 in duration for 15 months with the aim to improve the area of personal data protection and the national personal data protection system in North Macedonia in line with the European acquis. The Project Leader is Igor Vulje, deputy director of the Croatian Personal Data Protection Agency. The Junior Project Leader is Lukas Gundermann, legal advisor from the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection.
During the presentation of the project, in his opening speech, the director of the Croatian Personal Data Protection Agency, Zdravko Vukic, thanked for the trust and opportunity to implement this Twinning project in North Macedonia. “ We understand the difficulties that you 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 German Foundation for International Legal Cooperation (IRZ), Croatian Central Finance and Contracting Agency and to 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 North Macedonian Personal Data Protection Agency and other relevant North Macedonian institutions in the area of data protection“, emphasized Zdravko Vukić.
Director of the Personal Data Protection Agency of North Macedonia, Imer Aliu, thanked everyone for their support and stressed that the Twinning project starts at a crucial time for the Agency, as the process of harmonising 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 experienced and dedicated team that will cooperate with colleagues and experts from Croatia and Germany, and successful and fruitful cooperation will continue after the completion of the project”, pointed out Imer Aliu.
For the Republic of Croatia, Twinning represents a key strategic instrument for improving and further strengthening relations between the Republic of Croatia and beneficiary countries, positioning Croatia as a proactive and competent EU member state and contributing to strengthening Croatian influence in third countries. During the visit of the President of the Republic of North Macedonia Steve Panderovski to the Republic of Croatia, very good cooperation between Croatia and Northern Macedonia was stressed within the framework of Twinning projects.
