The Parliament of the Republic of North Macedonia, on its 12^th session held on 13 August 2024, adopted the Law on Ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on Access to Official Documents, also known as the Tromsø Convention. With this ratification, North Macedonia becomes the 16^th country to endorse this important international treaty.

The Tromsø Convention (CETS No. 205), adopted on 18 June 2009 in Tromsø, Norway, is a pivotal legal instrument focused on the public’s right to access official documents. The COVID-19 pandemic has further highlighted the need for transparency in decision-making, fund allocation, and timely access to health and public procurement data.

To date, this Convention has been ratified by 15 countries: Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Iceland, Lithuania, Montenegro, Norway, the Republic of Moldova, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Ukraine.

The Tromsø Convention is the first binding international legal instrument that acknowledges the right of each natural and legal entity to access to official documents in ownership of public bodies, without discrimination and regardless of the status or the motives of the party requesting access to public information. This Convention establishes the minimum standards for prompt and fair procedure for requesting access to official documents, as well as for administrative audits and complaints filed to independent bodies or courts, in case of rejection of requests for access to public information.

The procedure of ratification of the Tromsø Convention by North Macedonia was initiated with the support of the EU and Council of Europe joint action “Freedom of expression and freedom of the media in North Macedonia” (JUFREX) implemented under Horizontal Facility II programme, following a successfully event under the “Initiative 2020”. The process was then closely monitored and assisted within the joint programme of the EU and the Council of Europe Horizontal Facility for Western Balkans and Türkiye (Horizontal Facility III), and the action on “Protecting freedom of expression and of the media in North Macedonia” – PROFREX.