The House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina (PABiH), at the last session, tasked the Council of Ministers of BiH to submit to it the Reform Program for the implementation of the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans.
At the session of the House of Representatives of the state parliament, at the end of the week, conclusions were adopted which delegate Serif Spago (SDA) had proposed at one of the earlier sessions, within the discussion on the continuation of BiH’s European path with a focus on the adoption of the Reform Program for the implementation of the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans.
By the adopted conclusions, the Council of Ministers of BiH is tasked to, within five days, submit to the House of Representatives of the PABiH the Reform Program for the implementation of the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans, which was adopted at the session of the Council of Ministers of BiH on September 30th this year.
The Collegium of the House of Representatives of the PABiH is also tasked to include the aforementioned Reform Program in the agenda of the next session of the House of Representatives of the PABiH.
The House of Representatives also adopted the conclusions of delegates Jasmin Emric (NES-For New Generations) and Aida Barucija (BHI KF) regarding the discussion on the continuation of BiH’s European path with a focus on the adoption of the Reform Program for the implementation of the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans.
With one of the adopted conclusions, the House of Representatives of the PABiH obliges the Chairwoman of the Council of Ministers of BiH that, within seven days from the day of the adoption of this conclusion, she submit the complete document of the Reform Agenda of BiH in the official languages in BiH to the delegates in the House of Representatives and the delegates in the House of Peoples of the PABiH.
With the second conclusion, the House of Representatives of the PABiH obliges the Council of Ministers of BiH that, within one month from the day of the adoption of this conclusion, it submit to the House of Representatives and the House of Peoples of the PABiH a detailed analysis of the document of the Reform Agenda of BiH, which includes the analysis of all individual chapters, the necessary steps for the implementation of reforms, and the activities and goals from the Reform Agenda.
The Council of Ministers of BiH adopted the Reform Agenda and the list of Reforms at the end of September, which is one of the preconditions for BiH to receive funds from the European Union’s (EU) Growth Plan for the Western Balkans.
At that time, the continuous commitment of the Council of Ministers of BiH to the implementation of reform processes was confirmed, as well as the fulfillment of obligations on BiH’s European path.
The Chairwoman of the Council of Ministers of BiH, Borjana Kristo, stated on December 21st in Tirana, where she participated in the Summit of regional and EU leaders, that it was confirmed at the summit that the European Commission had accepted the Reform Agenda for BiH.
As she stated, what follows after that is the appointment of a coordinator and the ratification of two agreements – the Accession Agreement and the Loan Agreement.
“At the summit, it was said that they expect the ratification of these two agreements, so that we can continue, in step with the other countries in the region, with the implementation of this important project, the Growth Plan,” Kristo said at the time.
After last week’s session of the Council of Ministers of BiH, she stated that she had informed her colleagues in the Council of Ministers about participating in the summit in Tirana, and about the fact that our Reform Agenda had been accepted by the member states of the EU.
“A lot of work awaits us. It is expected from BiH to ratify the two agreements as soon as possible, that is, the instrument agreement and the loan agreement,” Kristo said.
In her words, the next move is up to the Ministry of Finance and the Treasury of BiH.
“We emphasized to our minister that he should be ready, in cooperation with the institutions and the coordinator for reforms and growth, to prepare the proposal of the agreement as soon as possible and send it for ratification. Because the first withdrawal of that advance tranche, as we call it, 60-something million, actually at the level of about seven percent of the funds that were allocated when it comes to the funds for BiH, will depend on the ratification of these two agreements,” Kristo emphasized.
