The Roma Integration 2020 Action Team representatives held consultative meetings with the counterparts from the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on 26-27 September 2016. They met with the National Roma Contact Point, the Minister without Portfolio responsible for Roma issues, Mr Nezdet Mustafa and his cabinet, as well as the EU Delegation representative responsible for Roma issues.

The main implementing body for the Roma integration Strategy in the country is a department within the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, while the Minister without Portfolio is in charge at political level within the Government. The institutional framework of Strategy, Action Plan and Operational Plan exists, and the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy monitors and reports. The local level government is engaged through an IPA funded project. However, the effects of the implementation are modest and not tangible. On the path to EU integration, Roma Seminars are held with the European Commission every second year, but the last three have been cancelled because of the political crisis in the country.

The Roma Integration 2020 Action Team presented the initiative for organizing a National Platform on Roma Integration, similar to those implemented in the EU Member States. The government counterparts considered this activity irrelevant for the country, because of already adopted documents, but requested a national workshop to build capacities of the key responsible institutions for implementation, namely the National Coordination Body, the Roma Information Centres and the Roma Health Mediators. The National Roma Contact Point also requested that the Roma Integration 2020 provides support for formal inclusion of Roma issues into the IPA concept, particularly by assisting the cross-ministries planning process.

The Roma Integration 2020 Action Team met also with the OSCE representative responsible for Roma issues, as well as with representatives of the civil society, to present the project and elaborate the planned activities. The continuous risks for the success of the Roma integration efforts in the context of the political crisis were raised.