European millions are slipping away from Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). At the same time, citizens are missing out on what was promised to them, such as the minimum wage of 1.000 BAM for the citizens of the Federation of BiH (FBiH).
What can be expected on these issues in the coming period, university professor and political analyst Ermin Cero was asked in an interview.
Yesterday, the final meeting of the working group was scheduled to align measures for the disbursement of the first tranche of 70 million euros from the Western Balkans Growth Plan. This is something that every country in the region has already resolved. The reason BiH has not is the lack of agreement and the negligence of the ruling authorities. There is no accountability, only blame-shifting over unmet obligations and unfinished tasks. Tasks that lead towards Europe are only fulfilled under pressure from Brussels, which has generally approved incomplete solutions. Will this be the case again when it comes to the millions from the Growth Plan?
“As things currently stand, it is very likely we will miss out on those millions. We will see about a billion. As for the first tranche, I fear they will not turn a blind eye,” the professor believes.
He attributes this to two factors.
“There are calculations – on one side, you have the capital they gain by rejecting those three measures, and on the other, about 24 million, which would be the share for Republika Srpska (RS). That’s how politicians operate, weighing what would be more valuable to them. The other factor is the fact that BiH easily received the green light to open negotiations,” says Cero, adding that he doubts the same scenario will happen now.
Part of the responsibility, he added, also lies with Brussels, which “insistently wants to show that something is being done here.”
“By turning a blind eye to local politicians and trying to push them to work, they have done us a disservice,” added Cero.
Cero discussed various current economic topics, as well as those that citizens would like to see more attention given to than they currently are.
Among them is the never-realized promise of a minimum wage of 1.000 BAM in FBiH.
“Under the current legal framework, an increase would have unimaginable consequences for FBiH. The current rate of everything that is paid on that wage would mean only additional funds for spending for the FBiH government, and the economy could not bear it. 1.000 BAM is not possible without a set of laws that would ease business operations for entrepreneurs by reducing contribution and tax rates,” he explained.
He used the situation in RS as an example, where the minimum wage was increased to 900 BAM without a corresponding reduction in taxes and contributions, burdening economic entities, N1 writes.
E.Dz.
