The European Union in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in cooperation with the Public Procurement Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, gathered experts, decision-makers, and representatives of civil society from the country, the region, and the European Union over the past two days at the conference “Further Development of Public Procurement in BiH: Ensuring the Path to a Modern, Transparent, Competitive, and Efficient System.”
During the conference, participants had the opportunity to gain insights into the direction of public procurement development in the EU, including legal protection in public procurement procedures, measures to ensure transparency, integrity, and quality of the public procurement process, digitization, professionalization, as well as the challenges in this field over the next five years.
The conference began with introductory remarks by Elisabet Tomašinec, Head of the EU BiH Political Department, who emphasized that significant efforts have been made in the reform of the public procurement system in BiH over the past two decades, both in good governance and in reducing corruption, as well as in improving the quality of public services.
“Improving public procurement is part of key priorities for BiH on its path to the EU. The adoption of amendments to the Public Procurement Law in BiH was a significant positive step ahead of the European Council decision to grant candidate status to BiH. It is essential to remember that this area is continuously evolving at the EU level. Therefore, for BiH to progress towards EU integration, it must continue aligning with relevant EU directives and focus on improving the functionality of its system to best meet the country’s needs,” said Tomašinec.
Tarik Rahić, Director of the Public Procurement Agency of BiH, explained that the implementation of the Public Procurement Strategy requires the joint efforts of all relevant institutions, civil society, and the private sector to make public procurement a model of efficiency, transparency, and bring about strategic changes for the benefit of all citizens of BiH. “A key item in the implementation of this strategy is the preparation and adoption of a new public procurement law in BiH, which will be fully aligned with the EU acquis. We have an important task ahead of us to accomplish this. In this process, the experiences of colleagues from Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, and Montenegro, which they shared with us at this conference, will be of great help”, Rahić concluded.
The conference brought together practitioners from Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, and Serbia, who shared valuable information with the participants about their countries’ experiences in implementing EU directives on public procurement and legal protection, as well as the process of digital transformation of public procurement in the region and EU member states. The conference also discussed the alignment of BiH legislation with the EU acquis.
Photo: EU in BiH
