European Union (EU) Committee of the Regions’ (CoR) Working Group on the Western Balkans held its 5th meeting in Sarajevo today. Mr. Denis Zvizdić, Chairmen of the Sarajevo Canton Assembly, invited the CoR Chairman, Mr. Jos Chabert, to organise the meeting in Sarajevo in order to have discussions as close as possible to the local situation, Speakers during the meeting included Mr. Sven Alkalaj, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mrs. Semiha Borovac, Sarajevo City Mayor and Mr. Samir Silajdzic, Prime Minister of Sarajevo Canton, as well as Mrs. Maryse Berniau, Ambassador, speaking on behalf of the French Presidency of the EU, and Mr Marc Vanbrabant, First Counsellor of the European Commission Delegation to BiH.
The CoR members and representatives from all three constituent peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina focused on the challenges that local and regional authorities face in the EU accession process in creating and fostering a multicultural society.
Mr. Chabert pointed out that CoR supported the accession of all Western Balkans countries, provided that they meet accession criteria, while referring to Conclusions of the European Council adopted on 19-20 June, he reiterated that the EU maintained its ”full support for the European perspective of the Western Balkans.“ As Mr. Chabert stressed, this would be achieved through further EU ”open door“ policy as regards the enlargement, in order to stimulate democratic reforms, decentralisation and economic development outside the current borders of the European Union. ”Closer integration of local and regional communities through their elected representatives is the key reason for us having these meetings. Therefore, CoR supports the holding of local elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina in October 2008 because they bring the relevance of the elected officials and contribute to the process of democratisation of the entire country“, concluded Mr. Chobert.
Illustrating the importance of today’s meeting, Mr. Denis Zvizdić, stressed that it was important to repeat that the European Union Enlargement policy towards Western Balkans remained the same, and that local and regional levels had to be more actively included in the European institutions. “The essence of our meeting was to make European values closer to every citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina.”, said Mr. Zvizdić. He explained that Mayors of Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Tuzla, Mostar and Brčko attended the meeting and that further decentralisation of the Instrument for Pre-Accession (IPA) funds was discussed. In that regard, he expressed sincere hope that Bosnia and Herzegovina would soon be eligible for all five parts of the IPA in comparison with the current two areas (transition assistance and institution building and regional and cross-border cooperation), which would bring BiH closer to the EU membership.
Last April the Committee of Regions adopted an opinion concerning the EU enlargement strategy and main challenges for its pre-candidate countries. Regarding Bosnia and Herzegovina, it welcomed “improvement in cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia” and “continuing reforms of local government: legislation of both entities regarding local self-government is compatible with the European Charter for Local Self-Government.” The Committee considers, however, “that a further upgrade of administrative capacity is needed in order to implement the Stabilisation and Association Agreement successfully: local authorities’ administrations and local government associations in both entities need further capacity building to be able to absorb and to fully benefit from European funds.“
The Committee of Regions will adopt a new opinion on the European perspective of the Western Balkans in November. The opinion will be prepared by Mr. František Knapík, Mayor of Kosice (SK/PPE), and stress for Bosnia Herzegovina that there is “the need for further constitutional changes to make national institutions more functional.“
Learn more about the Committee of the Regions
Around two-thirds of EU legislation is implemented by local and regional authorities in Member States. The Committee of the Regions is a consultative body, which was created in 1994 to give representatives of local government a say over the content of these laws.
The European Commission, which initiates EU laws, and the Council of Ministers, which determines the final content of the legislation (usually in tandem with the European Parliament), are obliged to consult the CoR on a wide range of policy areas including the environment, employment and transport.
The CoR organises five plenary sessions a year, where its 344 members vote on reports, known as opinions, issued in response to proposed legislation.
For more information visit website: www.cor.europa.eu
