The article explores policies, trends and challenges related to social inclusion in Macedonia, and
assesses the contribution of EU strategic frameworks and instruments towards the country’s greater
inclusive growth. In this respect, the article starts by exploring existing instruments for pre-accession
(IPAs) which are relevant for the achievement of the EU 2020 goals. Then the article offers a
country analysis related to issues such as poverty, material deprivation, as well as exclusion from
the labour market, accompanied by an overview of policies and measures undertaken by the current
government in the respective domains. Unfavourable socio-economic trends, such as undeclared
work, jobless growth, high unemployment and poverty rates, present serious challenges to the creation
of an effective social inclusion policy. On the other hand, the ‘delayed’ negotiation process with the
EU, which in social policy results in a lack of Joint Inclusion Memorandum (JIM) and Joint
Assessment Paper (JAP) processes even after seven years of candidate status, slows down the
adoption of more strategic policy approach towards sensitive issues, such as social inclusion and
anti-discrimination. The main aim of the article is to assess whether there is a significant difference
between current social inclusion policies, measures, indicators and trends with the similar EU
standards and practices. In addition, the article explores the potential benefits of the process of
Europeanization for Macedonian social inclusion policy.