On 24 October 2022, the European Chief Prosecutor, Laura Codruța Kövesi, and the State Public Prosecutor of the Republic of North Macedonia, Ljubomir Joveski, signed a working arrangement between the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) and the State Public Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of North Macedonia (SPPO).

The Arrangement aims at facilitating judicial cooperation in criminal matters and the exchange of information. Both parties assure that they will cooperate with the widest possible extent for the gathering of evidence on the basis of the relevant international legal framework. Cooperation by setting up joint investigation teams is also foreseen.

The parties may exchange any strategic and other non-operational information in areas within their competence. The SPPO may second a liaison officer to the EPPO’s headquarters in Luxembourg and the EPPO will have a contact point in the Republic of North Macedonia.

The exchange of personal data will be possible in accordance with the respectively applicable Union and North Macedonian legal framework. The Arrangement includes several data protection rules, including on the rights of the data subject and public access requests, and on onward data transfers. The Arrangement entered into force on 24 October 2022.