The Heads of Mission of the European Union Embassies in Bosnia and Herzegovina reiterate that a Census of Population and Households is an indispensable tool for the development of Bosnia and Herzegovina and particularly for the establishment of sound, evidence based social and economic policies. They urge the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina to swiftly take the necessary decisions to conduct a Census in the year 2011. This will bring the country into line with its Western Balkan neighbours and other European states.

The Heads of Mission also underline the critical importance of conducting a Census for Bosnia and Herzegovina’s European Union perspective. Without a census the BiH authorities will be unable to provide sufficiently recent statistical data to fulfill the technical steps needed for the EU integration process. This could prevent Bosnia and Herzegovina from benefiting from EU financial and technical assistance, and create a serious risk of Bosnia and Herzegovina falling behind the rest of the region in terms of its EU integration.