Members of the Joint Collegium of the House of Representatives and the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH (BiH PA) spoke with the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (CoE)

 
Members of the Collegium of the House of Representatives and the House of Peoples of the BiH PA spoke today with Ms. Anne Brasseur, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the CoE.

In an open discussion, Ms. Brasseur noted that she is visiting our country as part of preparations for BiH’s chairmanship of the Committee of the Council of Ministers of the CoE in May 2015. She showed particular interest in forming executive powers in BiH, including the reforms necessary to compensate for BiH’s obvious delay on the European path in recent years, said Ms. Brasseur.

She welcomed the adoption of a Joint Statement by political leaders and amendments to the Criminal Code of BiH, which was a Moneyval precondition to avoid BiH being blacklisted.

In addition, she outlined that BiH still has to conduct a series of reforms which will require political courage and a willingness to compromise. However, she noted that she was optimistic and believes in political leaders’ commitment to work seriously, and that BiH’s chairmanship of the Committee of the Council of Ministers will be a strong incentive on BiH’s European path.

Members of the Joint Collegium of the House of Representatives and the House of Peoples of the BiH PA assessed the EU’s recent initiative as very important. Currently, it is the most important reform move in economic and social fields, as it provides the opportunity to intensify activities where there is the highest level of political consent. In addition, constitutional reform, in line with the ruling in the Sejdic - Finci v. BiH case must not be neglected, including efforts related to amending Election Law and other legislation, in order to have full equality and satisfaction for each constituent people and each citizen of BiH.

Today, it was jointly assessed that on an apparently simplified European path, BiH will still face issues, due to the country’s complex political structures and complex decision - making processes. However, according to statements by Joint Collegium members, they have expressed confidence that a new parliamentary majority will make significant steps to improve the social situation in BiH while, internationally, our country will be closer to EU membership. (end)