On 14 May 2025, significant changes were made to North Macedonia’s personal data protection legislation. The Assembly of the Republic passed an amendment to expand the nations where personal data can be shared freely, without facing third-country transfer restrictions.

The institute of settlement, within the scope of misdemeanors, was introduced into Macedonian legislation by the Misdemeanor Act in 2019. In the context of overburdened courts, all mechanisms that facilitate judicial processes are more than welcome.

Big law firms can coast on boring slogans. They’ve got the clout, the infrastructure, and the impressive list of past clients to do the talking. But if you’re a smaller firm and your website sounds like everyone else’s, you are disappearing into the beige background of legal marketing noise.

North Macedonia’s new government has sparked a wave of legal and regulatory changes, with renewed competition enforcement while updates in consumer protection, energy, construction, and copyright raise new questions, according to Law Office Pepeljugoski Partner Ana Pepeljugoska.

The European Accessibility Act (EAA), approved in 2019, takes effect on June 28, 2025. The Act requires a wide range of products and services – such as consumer electronics, vending machines, websites, and mobile apps – to meet accessibility standards for people with disabilities.

North Macedonia’s formal accession to the Single Euro Payments Area (“SEPA”) marks a significant step toward deeper European financial integration. Following the European Payments Council’s (“EPC”) decision in early 2025 to extend SEPA’s geographical scope to include the Republic of North Macedonia, commercial banks and other payment service providers (“PSPs”) based in the country are now eligible to join the SEPA Credit Transfer (“SCT”) scheme. This milestone will enable citizens and businesses in the Republic of North Macedonia to send and receive euro payments under the same efficient and standardized conditions enjoyed across the SEPA area.

In the last few months, the Commission for Protection of Competition of the Republic of North Macedonia (the “Commission”) has stepped up its enforcement efforts of antitrust rules and food supply chain practices in the country.

Expropriation is the process of taking or limiting ownership and other property rights over real estate for the purpose of realizing a public interest as defined by law. In the Republic of North Macedonia, this process is regulated by a specific Law on Expropriation.

North Macedonia has taken a significant step in regulating market competition with the enactment of the Law on the Prohibition of Unfair Trade Practices in the Supply Chain of Agricultural and Food Products (Law).

CEE Legal Matters is proud to introduce the latest in our Comparative Guides series. This one focuses on Bribery & Corruption in CEE.

Contributed by Law Office Emil Miftari.

CMS has advised Synlab International on the sale of its business activities in Eastern Europe – including its entities in Croatia, North Macedonia, Romania, Slovenia, Turkiye, and Cyprus – to Medicover Group. Schoenherr advised Medicover.

On 6 March 2025, the European Payments Council officially accepted North Macedonia’s application and included North Macedonia in the Single Euro Payments Area (“SEPA”). With this, North Macedonia became the 39^th member of SEPA.

On the evening of April 1, 2025, the Deal of the Year Awards Banquet brought together, under the same roof, over 200 top-tier lawyers from Central and Eastern Europe's leading law firms and General Counsel from across the region in Prague.

Unfair trade practices refer to deceptive, unethical, or manipulative actions carried out by businesses, that violate consumer protection laws and harm the consumers. These practices contradict professional conduct and significantly distort the economic interests and decision-making of the average consumer, often targeting vulnerable groups.

Polenak Law Firm founder Nikola Polenak has passed away.

The Commission for Protection of the Competition of North Macedonia (CPC) has significantly intensified its enforcement activities in the food retail sector, signalling a stricter regulatory approach toward potential anti-competitive behaviour.

On 5 February 2025, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of North Macedonia (“Court”) annulled the Solidarity Tax Law (“Law”), ruling that it violated several key constitutional principles.