EU for Wastewater Systems-MK2022AAP The Action aims at decreasing water pollution along the Vardar river basin district, in North Macedonia, while supporting transition to a green economy and addressing climate change. It will directly contribute and create synergies with the priorities of the Economic and Investment Plan and the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans. The EU financial assistance will be invested in measures for collecting and treating urban wastewaters in the municipalities of Shtip, Veles and Vinica, including the connection of about 3 500 households to the sewerage systems, the rehabilitation and extension of over 100 km of sewers, the construction of a dozen of pumping stations and of two municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), one in Shtip and one in Veles, for a capacity of about 92 000 population equivalents (PE). Wastewater from Vinica and surrounding villages (around 15 000 PE) will be conveyed to the recently built Kochani WWTP, which was planned to accommodate that extra load. Best available techniques not entailing excessive costs will be used to obtain a near-zero carbon footprint of the WWTPs. The Action will support investment at the level of both energy demand and supply. Energy demand will be reduced by appropriate process design (e.g. stabilising excess sewage sludge via anaerobic digestion rather than aerobic digestion) as well as equipment specifications. Energy demand will be partly met with captive power supplied through a gas motor converting the anaerobically digested sludge into electricity and the installation of solar photovoltaic panels onsite.The Action will encourage stewardship of reclamation and reuse of the remaining solid waste stream, as opposed to the current policy (practice) of disposing it into sanitary landfills (dumpsites). Stakeholders including farmers will be sensitised in reducing abstraction of groundwater and the use of chemical fertilisers by opportunities offered by reclaimed water and biosolids.