The years-awaited statewide gas law is now on the table. The proposal was initiated by Denis Bećirović, a member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was adopted by overvoting – without the vote of Željka Cvijanović and with the announcement of the launch of a vital national interest. Consequently, the fate of the law is already uncertain at the first step. After the BiH Presidency, the law must go through the parliamentary procedure, where there is already no support from the representatives of the RS led by the SNSD party.
The BiH gas law was sent to the official procedure in September – for the first time since the Dayton Agreement. The law proposes to regulate the natural gas sector in BiH in a comprehensive way.
“Transporting gas through two entities fulfills the basic assumption that gas should be regulated at the state level. This is not about the transfer of jurisdiction – on the contrary, it is the fulfillment of a constitutional obligation and its most important part, inter-entity transport”, said Bećirović.
Bećirović reminds that Elektroprijenos BiH and the electricity regulator were not formed at the state level by chance, and that the field of energy must first be standardized at the state level. The adoption of the law is a positive step and would solve many problems in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and there are many obstacles before it enters into force, according to experts.
“It is positive that we pass laws, especially if they will unify the market, and natural gas is networked energy. However, the question is whether it is harmonized and whether it will be accepted from all sides. Figuratively speaking, does a well-prepared bride have a groom and will he agree to marry her – and I’m afraid that has not been agreed upon. In a literal sense, the question is whether the representatives from the entity RS will accept this bill and adopt it at the state level,” explains Nihad Harbaš, expert in energy and climate change.
CIGRE BiH Committee President Edhem Bičakčić believes that he is solving one of the main obstacles in BiH towards the Energy Community: “It enables the further transition of the energy sector, especially gas, which was lagging behind the electricity sector. Now it is unified and we can move on, but we still have a lot of work to do on the path of transition”.
Reactions to the adoption of this law are coming. This decision was adopted by overvoting, and BiH Presidency member Željka Cvijanović stated that there was no possibility of a veto being initiated on this, as she says, disputed point because it is not a matter of foreign policy, but that with the help and support she expects from the National of the Assembly of the RS to solve the situation of overvoting and initiate a vital entity interest. He adds that neither Bećirović nor anyone else can represent the whole of Bosnia and Herzegovina: “I will go to the National Assembly probably sometime around October 20, knowing what the deadlines are for starting the procedure. I expect the National Assembly of the Republika Srpska to stand by the decision of the Serbian member of the BiH Presidency in situations where we are outvoted. The BiH Presidency shows a persistent tendency to pass certain things by overvoting. They will learn that lesson once, for now it is enough to go to the National Assembly of RS”.
And every new blockade at this moment, according to Harbaš, leads us into increasing doubt with huge consequences: “Certainly, both companies from the Federation and from the RS cooperate closely, exchange goods and merchandise – and survive that way. If we prolong this, I am afraid that natural gas could be a thing of the past and there will be no more mechanisms and financial attractiveness for its development and use”.
It is uncertain whether the law will receive the support of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly. No matter how significant it was, judging by the current situation in the country, the law, and not only this one, is doomed to failure, due to the blockade of the state legislative and executive authorities, Federalna reports.
