Sarajevo, 20 November 2014

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It
is a pleasure for me to represent the EU Delegation at this event,
which is part of the MAXCAP research project funded under the EU
Framework Programme 7. I would like to cordially thank the project
partners for their work so far, and especially the organisers of this
conference.

It is equally a pleasure to speak after Ambassador
Jakob Finci, who has left quite a significant personal trace as regards
the issue of minority protection in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Crucially,
he is himself one of the victims of the existing situation.

I am
not announcing a new thing to you when I say that combating
discrimination and ensuring socio-economic integration of minorities
belong to the most important values of the European Union, and to its
top policy priorities internally as well as externally. Indeed the
protection of minorities is referred to by the Copenhagen criteria, the
most essential conditions for EU membership.

Clearly, the EU
attaches high importance to ending discrimination and improving
integration of minorities also in Bosnia and Herzegovina. And I could
say the case of your country is a particularly important and symbolic
one, given the recent history.

Every year the EU publishes a
Progress Report for countries with an EU perspective, a document that
assesses the advancement of a country toward EU membership. This year's
Progress Report for Bosnia and Herzegovina underlined discrimination as
an issue of concern in several areas, and particularly in the case of
vulnerable groups: Roma and other minorities, as well as disabled,
returnee refugees, and internally displaced persons.

We believe
the problems in Bosnia and Herzegovina and other countries need to be
clearly spelled out and repeated as long as they are out there. One can
make at least 2 observations:

1. Discrimination remains
widespread and affects minorities and vulnerable groups
disproportionally. The 2009 Anti-Discrimination Law is in force, but its
full implementation is still lacking, and must be completed. More needs
to be done in terms of awareness raising among the general public about
the existence of the law. Furthermore, a reform of the law, in order to
bring it fully in line with the EU aquis, will be essential to combat
discrimination at large.

2. The constitutional provisions
discriminating against groups other than the three constituent peoples
have not been amended, and the rulings of the European Court for Human
Rights still remain not implemented. Importantly, of course, the key to
constitutional reforms is local ownership.

To address these issues the EU has been engaged along several tracks:

• Active
  support for the implementation of the Anti-Discrimination Law. The
  adoption of the law was a key benchmark for Visa Liberalisation, and its
  implementation features as an important aspect of the Post-Visa
  Liberalisation Monitoring Mechanism. The setting up of a data collection
  system regarding cases of discrimination was flagged up as an urgent
  matter in a recent meeting of the monitoring mechanism. On a continuous
  basis, the EU is following closely the ongoing process of revising the
  anti-discrimination law.

• The EU is also maintaining
  regular dialogue with the Institution of Human Rights Ombudsman of BiH
  with the aim of strengthening their capacity to deal with discrimination
  cases. We are following the revision of the ombudsman law in these and
  other aspects.

• Last but not least, the EU is actively
  engaged on Roma issues. In November 2013 the EU Delegation hosted a
  seminar on the inclusion of Roma People in BiH. The key priorities
  identified included: raising the level of participation in pre-school
  education; fighting discrimination by raising awareness among teachers,
  principals and parents; reducing the drop-out in primary and secondary
  education; and the institutionalisation of Roma mediators and Roma
  assistants in schools.

Besides, the EU remains committed to
addressing Roma issues also in the framework of the Sarajevo process and
the Zagreb Declaration.

And finally, the EU Delegation recently
published a Call for Proposals (IPA 2013), as a second phase of the
support to the national Roma Action Plan (2.5 mil €) for the housing and
supporting measures (deadline for the concept notes submission – 05th
November 2014).

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Let me conclude by
saying that protection of minorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina is of
undiminished concern today. Pro-active engagement to improve the
situation should be “daily business” for all of us. We should continue
calling on those in positions of authority and responsibility, as well
as those present in public life, to champion the protection of
minorities and to defend human rights of minorities as well as all
citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

I wish you a fruitful discussion tomorrow and thank you for your attention.