Ceremony on the occasion of the completion of the Twinning light project - Support to administrative structures for EU integration affairs in Bosnia and Herzegovina held in the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH

The ceremony marking the completion of the Twinning light project "Support to the administrative structures for integration of the parliaments in Bosnia and Herzegovina into the European Union (EU)“ funded by the EU and implemented by the National Assembly of Hungary, was held today in the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina (PA BiH).

Speaker of the House of Representatives of the PA BiH, Borjana Krišto, Deputy Speaker of the House of Peoples of the PA BiH, Safet Softić, Speaker of the House of Peoples of BiH Federation Parliament, Lidija Bradara, Speaker of the House of Representatives of BiH Federation Parliament Edin Mušić, Speaker of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska Nedjeljko Čubrilović and Speaker of Brčko District Assembly Esed Kadrić addressed the participants of the ceremony.

Deputy Speaker of the Hungarian National Assembly Istvan Jakab, and on behalf of the EU Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Head of the Section for Political and Economic Affairs, Jan Snaidauf also spoke about the project and its implementation, while the Project Manager, Zoltán Horváth, talked about results achieved in the Twinning light project.

In their contributions, the members of the Collegiums of the Houses of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Parliament of the Federation of BiH, the National Assembly of Republika Srpska and the Brcko District Assembly confirmed their commitment to EU integration and committed themselves to implementing action plans to strengthen the role of parliaments in that context.

The first issue of the Bulletin on European Integration was also presented within the project, jointly issued by four parliaments in BiH. This newsletter is based on the Protocol on the Publication of a Joint Bulletin on European Integration of Parliaments in BiH, signed by the management of BiH parliaments’ secretariat in October 2017.

The aim of this project, funded by the EU and the implementation of which started in May this year, was to improve the activities of administrative structures responsible for European integration in the parliaments. (End)

About the Project

The twinning light project "Supporting the Administrative Structures for EU Integration Affairs in BiH Parliamentary Structures", has been funded by the EU and implemented by the National Assembly of Hungary. Following this project, a new two-year Twinning project is planned for IT equipment totalling EUR 4 million with the aim of further supporting and implementing action plans for integration in the EU, and intensifying cooperation between BiH parliaments in this area

This twinning light project relies on the results of the previous Twinning project, which was implemented in the period 2014-2016. It is a project that has offered numerous recommendations in practically all areas of parliamentary work regarding the preparation of BiH parliaments for European integration, which are translated into action plans or hodograms adapted to each of the parliaments in BiH. Within the framework of the previous Twinning project, parliaments in BiH agreed upon a joint declaration on EU integration and established a mechanism for cooperation of parliaments on the European path of our country.

In addition, in order to strengthen the role of cantonal assemblies in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) in the process of European Integration, the Twinning Light project has made a clear assessment of needs identifying future steps for establishing key structures, processes and timeframes that will enable cantonal assemblies to carry out their tasks that are necessary in the process of European integration. An assessment of the need has been confirmed by the leaders of the cantonal assemblies and the leadership of the House of Peoples of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina at a joint conference and will serve as a basis for future financial support to cantonal assemblies. (End)