North Macedonia

Last update: September, 2021

The Constitution (1991) guarantees the following rights related to culture:

• civil rights and freedoms;
• creative autonomy;
• the obligation to support and develop culture;
• the right of the different ethnic or national groups to establish institutions for culture and art;
• the protection of the cultural and historical heritage; and
• copyright protection.

Last update: September, 2021

In general, The Ministry of Culture distributes public funds for culture on the basis of an annual plan. The allocation of the overall state budget to different sectors is prescribed by law (annual Law on the National Budget).

The Law on Local Self Government (2002) re-allocated some responsibilities to the municipalities, such as: accomplishing and development of local interest in culture; institutional and financial support of cultural institutions and projects, preserving folklore, customs, old crafts and similar cultural values; organising cultural events; encouragement of various specific forms of art.

According to the Decision on the Network of National Institutions in the Field of Culture, 64 cultural institutions are considered local institutions. This means that the local authorities are responsible for financing some of the basic costs (running costs etc.) but, on the other hand, the salaries are still subsidized by the Ministry of Culture. The local institutions can apply for annual funding from the Ministry of Culture for programmes and specific projects.

The whole process of the annual funding of the so called national interest in the cultural field has been criticised for years by some intellectuals, cultural workers and NGO’s, especially the programme for funding publishing houses, film, visual arts etc. The main points of criticism were on the grounds of insufficient transparency, that the biggest percentages of the funds were being allocated according to "party standards" and to people and firms close to the ruling political party, insufficient financial indicators for the projects etc. At the same time, in 2014-2017 the Ministry of Culture did not publicly announce members of the commissions who decided on the allocation of public funds. Furthermore, there were no annual reports of any kind, especially financial reports or any kind of financial information about the projects financed through the annual competitions.

In 2017, for the first time in many years, the annual funding was organised on a transparent basis, with publicly announced expert commissions and with final financial reports about the projects financed through the annual competitions. The new National Strategy for Cultural Development 2018-2022 and the new Law on Exercising the Public Interest in Culture (which is in preparation) foresee additional reforms in the annual funding (two or more public competitions per year, a public call for members of expert commissions, limits in the number of applications per applicant, introduction of “arm’s length principle” where possible etc.). However, the draft of the new Law on Exercising the Public Interest in Culture is in the Parliament for more than two years and hasn’t been put on its agenda yet.

Last update: September, 2021

General social security measures apply in the same manner to the culture field as any other sector. This also applies to unemployment schemes.

General social security measures also apply to freelance artists who have gained their status in appropriate procedures and have been confirmed by a proper Act of the Minister of Culture.

The Law on Culture

(1998, still in force) does not distinguish between independent professional and amateur artists. Every person, regardless of age, sex, education and religion has the freedom and the right to engage in creative work. The law defines an artist as a “person who creates or performs an authored artistic activity”. If an individual chooses art as a profession (the only one from which an income is earned), then he / she must legally register as such with the court in order to obtain the legal legitimacy as an independent artist. Independent artists are responsible for paying their health, retirement and disability insurance taxes. However, the Ministry can provide financial help from the budget to cover these expenses. The Minister of Culture decides which independent artists will receive these funds based on specific criteria including the type, scope and quality of their creative work, in a procedure and a manner determined by law.

In the year 2000, a Book of Rules was published. It outlines the selection criteria to be used in the allocation of public funding to independent artists, derived from the budget of the Republic. An annual competition is announced each September in the newspapers. The latest data shows that there are over 100 independent artists who benefit from the state budget, including writers, film workers, actors, musicians and visual artists etc. On the other hand, it also shows that the selection criteria are not clear since a lot of users of the funding are from the entertainment industry, fashion and crafts etc. It also shows that one of the main “criteria” is the political affinity of the artists.

That is why, on the basis of the National Strategy for Cultural Development 2018-2022, a working group was established to propose new rules and criteria for this category. This category should also include cultural workers. Unfortunately, like all other working groups, it did not finish its job.

Last update: September, 2021

According to the Law on Value Added Tax, the turnover of cultural institutions, as well as that of other taxpayers who perform cultural activities, is exempt from VAT, provided they have approval from the Ministry of Culture. A privileged tax rate of 5% is applied to the turnover of publications, instead of the general rate of 18% that also applies to audio and visual products.

The Law on Income Tax stipulates that donations and sponsorship made to public culture institutions from personal or company income can be calculated as deductible expenses up to a rate of 3% of the total income.

The Law on Personal Income Tax states that professional independent artists can deduct a fixed percentage share of their income as expenses generated by their creative work. The rates vary depending on the type of activity and range between 25% to 60%; for example, sculpture - 60%; painting - 50%; classical music, ballet, theatre and film performances - 30%; for pop and folk music - 25%, etc. Income tax is not charged on earnings generated from awards or on scholarships to pupils and students granted by government agencies and foundations.

The Law on Customs Duty list the following items which are not subject to import fees: printed material; objects and materials in the field of culture that are imported according to international agreements; goods that are brought into the country free-of-charge and are used for non-profit making cultural purposes; goods that are not produced in the country that are used for non-profit making cultural activities and are not intended for further sale; objects imported by museums, galleries, and the National and University Library that are intended for public use; objects exhibited during fairs and exhibitions; objects intended for cultural and artistic events and film-making; works of art that artists declare as their own works; awards and other objects received at foreign exhibitions, performances, etc., and objects received from foreign donors.

In January 2007, the Law on Sponsorship and Donations came into force. The Law encourages private persons and companies to sponsor humanitarian activities that are in the public interest (including arts and culture). The Law provides deductions (up to 20%) on the total yearly personal income for private donations, but not more then 24 000 MKD (400 EUR). Companies obtain deductions if they have donated more than 5% of their total yearly income. It is estimated that in the period January 2007 - June 2008, 2.5 million EUR was donated from the private sector for humanitarian purposes (including art and culture). More donations were registered in the first half of 2008 (1 591 000 EUR) than for all of 2007 (915 712 EUR).

In 2010 the Parliamentary Committee for Culture had a debate on some key issues of the Law on Sponsorship and Donations. Some of the recommendations were: to simplify the procedure for sponsorship, to suggest bigger tax reductions, to clearly mark the cultural projects of public / national interest, to encourage companies to sponsor and donate to culture etc.

However, 2012 showed again that most of the sponsorship and donation funds go to pop and folk concerts and sports events and just a small percentage to culture. Most of the marketing experts argue that additional tax reductions and benefits should be offered.

Last update: September, 2021

General labour laws apply in the same manner to the culture field as in any other sector that is funded from the government's budget. There is also (more or less) a unified system of salaries for those working in the public sector. 

The Retirement Law that came into effect in September 2007 made huge changes in the general retirement policy that seriously affected the cultural sector. Changes were made to the benefit of some groups in the cultural sector. It especially concerns ballet dancers in the Macedonian National Ballet, who now are required to work more years than before. The old law had guaranteed a special status to this profession - one year was calculated as a year and a half - so the ballet dancers could retire after 20-25 years’ work (at the age of 40-45). Now, according to the new law, the special status is still designated but the calculations have changed: 1 year for every three years! So the ballet dancers will have to work for nearly ten more years: female dancers until 53 years of age and male dancers until 56. The same problem applies to all the brass instrumentalists in the Macedonian music institutions.

The amendments (2014) to the Retirement Law provide the possibility (on a written request) for men to work until 67 and for women until 65. However, several women university professors submitted to the Constitutional Court an initiative for equalisation of retirement rights. The Macedonian Helsinki Committee also objected to these amendments.

There is also standardised collective bargaining agreements used when negotiating contracts with state run institutions. The first Collective Agreement was signed in June 2005 (as a first of its kind in the period of Transition) and it was amended in March 2006. During 2017 / 2018 a new Collective Agreement was in preparation and it was finalised and signed in December 2019. One of the biggest gains from this Collective Agreement is the increase of the salaried in the field of culture and its nivelation in all cultural institutions in the country. 

According the urgent amendments to the Law on Culture (February 2014), the status of employees in the public cultural institutions has radically changed. Cultural workers in public institutions are classified into 3 groups: administrative staff (whose labour rights fall under the Law on Administration), cultural service providers (whose labour rights fall under the Law on Culture) and technical staff (whose labour rights fall under the Law on Employees in the Public Sector). The main category – the so called cultural service providers – has several subcategories: artist, assistant artist, skilled stage worker, skilled cultural collaborator, and skilled collaborator in the protection of cultural heritage, etc. Then, each subcategory has several levels. For example, the subcategory "artist" is further divided into "first category artist", "second category artist", concert maestro, etc.

On the other hand, the National Strategy for Cultural Development 2018-2022 promotes a status for cultural workers outside of the Law on Administration. However, the draft of the new Law on exercising the public interest in culture (which awaits Parliamentary procedure for almost two years) does not comply with this National Strategy.

In 2020, due to the KOVID-19 pandemic, a Law on financial support to citizens with low income, pensioners, social security beneficiaries and elderly people, young people, single parents, parentless children, independent artists and cultural workers, film workers and entertainment artists was adopted by the Parliament. It guaranteed a certain (tax free) financial support to these categories during the KOVID-19 pandemic.

Last update: September, 2021

Copyright and related rights are regulated by the Law on Copyright and Related Rights (1996). Although this law generally provides copyright protection according to international standards, additional amendments are required to harmonise articles in line with the directives of the European Union.

In the period of transition, especially prior to 1996, violations of copyright were widespread such as the unauthorised copying of literary works, multiplication and distribution of videotapes, musical and film CDs and computer software. Since the establishment of many private broadcasting companies and cable operators, the unauthorised broadcasting and re-broadcasting of audio-visual works is ever more present.

The Ministry of Culture has several inspectors to investigate copyright violations as part of their official responsibility and upon request from rights-holders. Collecting bodies, competent courts, customs bodies and other government agencies are all involved in the direct implementation of the law and the protection of copyright.

In 2003, the Ministry of Culture undertook a huge "operation" to publicly destroy over 39 000 illegal videotapes, CDs and computer software. It did strengthen the public interest and awareness of the problems of copyright and reduced the amount of piracy to a certain degree.

Author's rights remain in force 70 years after his / her death. Audio-visual rights also remain in force 70 years after the legal publishing of a work. In the case of multiple authors, property rights remain in force until the death of the last living author.

Moral rights are applied. While there has not been any specific debate about moral rights, there has been constant public debate (initiated by authors and the media) on the protection of authors’ rights in popular and classical music.

A new Law on Copyright and Related Rights was adopted and came into force at the end of 2010. It strengthened copyright protection so that most violations were subject to Criminal Law. A Coordinative body had been established and is responsible for field actions.

The Law on Copyright and Related Rights was constantly mentioned in the past few years during public debates over the controversial government project "Skopje 2014", when several modern buildings from the 1960s and 1970s were set to be re-designed in a pseudo-baroque manner. But there was no reaction from the Ministry of Culture.

Another burning issue in 2014 was the activation of the performers’ and the phonogram producers’ right to remuneration from the single equitable remuneration for public use of phonograms with performances published for commercial purposes. The 2013 amendments to the Law on Copyright and Related Rights require broadcasting organisations to have an electronic system for control and evidence of broadcasted musical works. The Association of Broadcasters strongly opposed this measure, claiming that they work on popularisation of Macedonian music.

However, the issue of copyrights provisions is almost completely marginalized in the past several years.

Last update: September, 2021

2007 saw the implementation of three important laws: the Law on Free Access to Public Information, the Law on Safety of Classified Information and the Law on Protection of Personal Data. Public attention was mostly focused on the Law on Free Access to Public Information and the Law on Protection of Personal Data.

According to the NGO sector (Foundation Open Society Institute, "Metamorphosis" and another 13 organisations included in the monitoring system), improvement in the implementation and application of these laws was necessary. This especially applied to the Law on Free Access to Public Information. 625 applications were submitted to 75 institutions at central level and 31 at municipal level, with only 38% having been answered at central level and 58% at local level.

The data delivered in the Report of the Commission for Protection on Free Access to Public Information for 2012 showed that during the seven years of implementation of the Law there were 3 545 complaints registered. The Commission had positively solved 2 583 complaints. In 2012 there were 1 225 complaints, out of which 151 are personal complaints and the rest are from NGO's and foundations. 907 complaints (74.4%) relate to the silence of the administration. Most of the complaints are about public health institutions (525), state institutions on the central level (396), local institutions (226), judicial institutions (44) etc. However, the Open Society Institute sent an Open letter to the President of the Parliament saying that the Commission's Report deals with false information, that there is a cover up of unsuccessful implementation of the Law, that there are no recommendations to overcome the high percentage of the cases of "silence of administration", etc.

The 2017 Report of the Commission for Protection on Free Access to Public Information showed an increase in the number of the complaints from citizens and companies due to the “silence of the administration” (over 75% of the complains). The Commission has responded positively in 87% of the cases. In 2017 there were 758 registered complaints (619 in 2016) to the Commission – of which 285 (25%) were from citizens and 473 from citizens associations and companies.

Last update: September, 2021

The Constitution and the Law on the Use of the Macedonian Language (1998) determine its official status and its use in the public sphere.

According the Ohrid Framework Agreement (2001), in the units of local self-government, where at least 20% of the population speak a language other than Macedonian, that language and its alphabet will be used as an official language, in addition to the Macedonian language and its Cyrillic alphabet (see also chapter 4.2.4).

Macedonian Radio Television as a Public Broadcasting Service fosters the use of the Macedonian language and the Cyrillic alphabet in radio and television programmes. The Second Channel of Macedonian Radio Television is completely open to programmes in the languages of the cultural communities, namely: Albanian, Turkish, Serbian, Romany, Vlach etc. (see also chapter 4.2.6).

In 2008, the Parliament passed the new Rules of Procedure and the new Law on the Use of the Albanian language. According to this document, starting from 2009, the Parliamentary committees can be conducted in the Albanian language as well.

In January 2018, after a long and burning public debate, the Parliament passed the new Law on the Use of Languages. The Law stipulates the use of the Albanian language at national and local level. However, this led to a recent political incident when the Parliamentary speaker Dzaferi gave his address in Albanian (his native language) during the Summit “European Parliament – Western Balkan” in Brussels in June 2021. Experts say he thus infringed the Constitution.

Last update: September, 2021

General laws and regulations that influence culture and cultural policy are numerous and include the Labour Law, Associations’ Law, Tax and Custom Regulations, Law on NGO’s  and Foundations, Anti-trust Laws, Law on the Implementation of the State Budget etc. They also include laws that regulate the organisation and work of public administration bodies and units of local administration and self-government. Collective agreements in the state and public sector also have to be taken into account as well as the sectorial specific agreements and other related regulations. It has to be noted that there is a tendency of frequent change in regulations and especially in adequate implementation of said regulation.

The Law on Import, Circulation and Distribution of Foreign Printed Material, Foreign Films and Information Activities regulates the means of import, circulation and distribution of foreign printed materials and films, foreign information agencies, accreditation of foreign journalists etc. The main authority for foreign correspondents is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Foreign countries and international organisations can establish information agencies but only based on bilateral agreement. Foreign TV crews that stay less than 30 days will need permission from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to do so. Foreign companies will not have the right to make surveys or inquires of any kind.

The Law on Estimation (2010, amended 2012) regulates the process of estimation in copyright and related rights and the Ministry of Culture is authorised to give licenses to the estimators in this field. This law also affects the (market) estimation of the value of the artworks, antiquities etc.

Last update: September, 2021

The legal framework in the Republic of North Macedonia that regulates the cultural processes and work of its institutions consists of a set of laws, by-laws, strategies and yearly strategic operating plans of the Ministry of Culture.

The main law in the field of culture is the Law on Culture (1998) which was meant to be a unified law on the cultural field. When it was passed in 1998, partial co-ordination was achieved between the existing constitutional system and the new social, political and economic conditions in the country. It also guaranteed the freedom of creative work and related rights; made possible the introduction of a civil concept of culture; an equal status for public and private entities that work in the field of culture; introduction of a decentralised system for culture; financing activities in the "national interest" through an open competition, etc. However, it is important to note that past experience with the Law on Culture revealed many weaknesses and pointed out the necessity for amendments. It became clear that a re-evaluation of the Law on Culture was necessary. Subsequently, the Law on Culture was amended 17 times.

The National Strategy for Cultural Development stated that the Law on Culture has become old-fashioned, rigid and anachronous. According to this Strategy a new Law on exercising the public interest in culture was prepared (2019) and awaits the Parliamentary procedure.

Table 9: Legislation on culture

The Republic of North Macedonia has ratified the following UN conventions which are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Culture:

1. Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict with Regulations for the Execution of the Convention.
2. Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Properties.
3. Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage.
4. Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.
5. Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.
6. Universal Copyright Convention, with Appendix Declaration relating to Articles XVII and Resolution concerning Article XI and Universal Copyright Convention as revised in Paris on July 24, 1971, with an Appendix Declaration relating to Article XVII and the Resolution concerning Article XI.
7. Convention for the Protection of Producers of Phonograms against Unauthorized Duplication of their Phonograms.
8. Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization.(Source: Ministry of Culture)

The Republic of North Macedonia has been a member of UNESCO since 28 June 1993. It ratified various conventions including the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (2007) and the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (2006).  Between 2016 and 2017, UNESCO’s Participation Programme approved 5 projects that MK participated in, including 1 regional project. Lake Ohrid region is a World Heritage Site since 1979.  Bitola became a UNESCO Creative City of Film in 2015 (part of UNESCO Creative Cities Network). The country is included in the UNESCO/EU action to Fight Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Property.

Table 10: Relations with the Council of Europe

(Source: Cultural Policy Review of the Republic of North Macedonia ((Online Peer Review, December 2020), Council of Europe)

Last update: September, 2021

The Law on Protection of Cultural Heritage (2004) defines public services in this field and all available legal mechanisms to ensure the protection of cultural monuments. Cultural heritage may be publicly or privately owned and may be exported only in exceptional cases with permission from the Minister of Culture.

Private owners have an obligation to care and maintain cultural heritage and property, and to provide access to them for scientific / cultural research purposes and in some cases to provide access to the general public. Under certain conditions the owner has the right to receive compensation from the Ministry for some maintenance costs.

In 2007, the Law on Protection of Cultural Heritage was amended, in order to harmonise it with EU legislation and standards. Bigger changes were made in the procedure of restitution of cultural heritage goods, the measures for getting permission for archaeological excavations, some of the control measures etc.

There are several laws that regulate the environment and natural heritage: Law on Protection of Natural Heritage, Law on Protection against Environmental Noise, Law on Waters etc. The Law on Protection of Natural Heritage regulates the rights and obligations of the central and local governments, the City of Skopje, and the rights and obligations of the citizens in the protection of the environment, the natural heritage etc. Main responsibilities for executing this law lie within the Ministry of Environment and Social Planning.

One of the major issues in the past four years (2017-2021) on the protection of cultural and natural heritage is the city and region of Ohrid – protected by UNESCO as a cultural and natural heritage area since1979. However, the UNESCO recommendations for Ohrid and the region for the past decade were completely disregarded by the central and the local governments and the result is the possibility of losing the status of UNESCO protected city/region.

Last update: September, 2021

There is no special legislation on performance and celebration.

Last update: September, 2021

There is no special legislation on visual arts and crafts.

Last update: September, 2021

Law on Publishing (2014, amended 2015).

Last update: September, 2021

Law on Audio-visual Goods (2008, amended 2011).

Last update: September, 2021

Law on Audio-visual Goods (2008, amended 2011).