With Mary Ann Hennessey, Head of the Council of Europe Office in BiH, we talk about the new framework for cooperation in the EU Enlargement and Neighbourhood Regions for the period 2014-2020, and cooperation in BiH between the EUD/EUSR and the Council of Europe Office. We also learned what are the biggest challenges faced by the CoE in BiH so far.

The European Commission and the 47-nation Council of Europe have signed a “Statement of Intent” putting in place a new framework for cooperation in the EU Enlargement and Neighborhood Regions for the period 2014-2020. What specifically does that mean for Bosnia and Herzegovina and its citizens?

MAH: “The Statement of Intent signed by Commissioner Füle and Secretary General Jagland signals a more closely co-ordinated and medium term approach to co-operation between these two European organisations in the interests of consolidating the values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law in societies which are already a part of our „common European home“ or are neighbouring to it. With the new modalities for co-operation to be put in place next year for the Western Balkans, the European Commission and the Council of Europe“ will be able to better plan for coherent joint action and projects, in particular in these 4 areas: i) efficient and independent judiciary; fight against corruption, organised crime and economic crime, iii) freedom of expression/media, iv) anti-discrimination and the protection of the rights of vulnerable groups. All of these are of essential importance for BiH citizens’ quality of life.”

How would you describe the current cooperation in the field between the Delegation to the European Union to Bosnia and Herzegovina and Council of Europe in BiH?

MAH: “Keeping in mind that the EU Delegation in BiH and the CoE Office in BiH have very different mandates, roles and resources – the EU and the CoE nevertheless share the same values, same Member States and also very similar objectives for BiH. Our co-operation in BiH is therefore both excellent and inadequate at the same time. By this I mean that the communication, consultation, by our headquarters and our field presences, is close, regular and driven by joint goals. Our co-operation with setting priorities, sharing information and implementing projects, activities is also quite exemplary, I think. When co-operation is inadequate between us in BiH, it is only due to the simple realities of the smaller, more limited, capacities of the CoE Office in BiH.”

How will the two organizations cooperate in order to achieve concrete results in the three areas outlined in the agreement, namely human rights, democracy and the rule of law?

MAH: “The Council of Europe and the European Union already have a history of close co-operation, you have only to look at our flags and anthems to see that. For many years already we have engaged in jointly funded and implemented programmes to support the democratic developments in newer CoE member States and in the neighbourhoods, we consult closely on the EC progress reports, and share institutional findings of our respective mechanisms for monitoring specific sectors or assessing compatability of legislation with European norms.

“In addition to the longstanding mutual consultation and co-ordination, the Statement of Intent, with its subsequently agreed modalities for implementation, will allow our Organisations to fix common priorities for our work in each country and to to jointly programme our actions in BiH. The four key areas mentioned above will guide the planning of projects, initatives or activities to be financed by funds set aside for the implementation of this new co-operation modality.

“By designing and implementing projects together, and with our BiH partners, which focus on putting CoE standards into practice in BiH, we will help BiH to build solid foundations from the democracy, human rights and rule of law „acquis“ of CoE. These foundations will support the reform, modernisation and consolidation of BiH institutions, legislation and practice needed to improve the quality of life of BiH citizens and to enable further progress with European integration.”

What were the the biggest challenges that the Council of Europe in Bosnia and Herzegovina came up against so far?

“The structural deficencies of the system of governance in BiH and the inertia of political elites, even when faced with urgencies, make a lot of challenges for democracy, human rights and the rule of law. This has been seen most obviously in the so-far unsuccessful efforts to amend the BiH Constitution to fulfil the judgement of the European Court of Human Rights in the Sejdic-Finci case. Of course for CoE like all other partners working in BiH, the fragementation of the different policy sectors and the numerous different interlocutors who should participate is also a big challenge for implementing activities. However, institutions which do not function properly are a challenge, but the real obstacle is the unwillingness of the authorities to fix them.”

How can CoE help BiH in the EU integration process?

“CoE standards, treaty and membership obligations are for a large part the source of the Copenhagen political criteria for EU membership. Fulfilling its CoE commitments and obligations – and demonstrating convincingly that it can be a good Member State of CoE – will bring BiH already far along the path of EU integration.

BiH can use its active participation in CoE bodies, networks and the access it has to expertise and European best practices to ensure that reforms are compatible with EU, making it much more likely to make a credible application. It might also be noted that many of the issues to be addressed under future EU-BiH negotiations, notably concerning justice, law enforcement, human, minority or social rights are directly related to CoE treaties, monitoring mechanims or other standards.”