The Round table was organized jointly by three trade unions centers in Macedonia: SSM, UNASM, and KSS within the Regional project “Tackling taxation, informal economy, and corruption in the Western Balkans”. Project holders are International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), Pan European Regional Council (PERC), and Norwegian Trade Union LO Norway.

The Round table was attended by Minister of labor,, representative of employers, representative of ILO Office for Macedonia, representative of Association for Democratic Initiatives who presented very important data from the study on the matters of corruption in Macedonia, then several media representatives, and certainly leadership of all three trade union centers, representatives of branch trade unions and experts from CCM, UNASM, and KSS.

Participants discussed the national report about the situation in Macedonia in the area of taxation policies, informal economy, and corruption. Comparative analysis of the situation in Macedonia, compared to the countries in the region and EU member states, was presented by Mr. Martin Hutsebaut, EU expert.

Project results were presented, the basic parts of the document on taxation policies and links with informal economy and corruption; there was an active discussion and it was concluded that it is important to continue working on the reform of taxation policy so that it could be fairer, which will ultimately influence on reduction of grey economy and prevent the large money circulation ending in grey flows.
Participants highlighted the importance of cooperation and joint endeavors by all social partners in the matters of taxation policy, informal economy, and corruption. To that end, a particular attention should be on the development of social dialog and tripartite activities, including social partnership at all levels.

Media were extremely interested in this event and the Round table topic.

ITUC / PERC SEE Office