Bosnia and Herzegovina shall conduct a Census of Population and Housing in 2011, as will all European Union Member States, candidate and potential candidate countries. The census is expected to fully comply with EU requirements and in particular with the topics to be covered in the census questionnaires, the dissemination of census results and quality reporting. A pilot census is planned to be held in April 2010. The respect of international standards in the conduct of the Census is of paramount importance, leading to an accurate socio-economic and demographic picture of the Bosnia and Herzegovina population and to results that will be widely accepted. The census is also of high relevance for the European integration process of the country.

The European Commission agreed with Bosnia and Herzegovina that an International Monitoring Operation (IMO) should ensure that the census is carried out according to international standards and procedures and to comply with all EU statistical requirements, from the preparation of the exercise to the data dissemination. The pilot census will also be monitored.

In the kick-off meeting of the IMO held today in Sarajevo the European Commission agreed with several other International Organisations on the principles and proceedings of the monitoring exercise. Eurostat, the Commission’s statistical office, will be leading the process and chair the IMO Committee and provide a secretariat. The Council of Europe, the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) committed themselves today to take part in the monitoring operation.

The European Commission will finance most of the cost of the operation, which are estimated at €700,000.

The Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the European Commission will soon finalise a Memorandum of Understanding on the IMO. This Memorandum describes the mandate, results and conditions for the IMO. Important element of the Memorandum of Understanding is the recognition by Bosnia and Herzegovina of the IMO and its principles.

The Commission reminded Bosnia and Herzegovina today that it is high time to adopt the Law on the Census, without which the census is not possible. Bosnia and Herzegovina would fall behind the neighbouring countries in its EU integration process, if the census could not be carried out.