Will Different Census Results Cost Us the Validity of the European Commission Questionnaire Responses?

At the end of June 2016, the official results of the Census conducted in October 2013 were published. However, they have not yet begun to be officially used. The Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina initiated activities to start using the new data instead of those from 1991, but without the consent of the entity statistical institutes, an implementation plan, i.e., planning and application of data, cannot be made, writes the Bosnian news agency Patria.

In mid-August 2016, the Census results were officially published in the Official Gazette of Bosnia and Herzegovina, fulfilling the last condition for their official use and application. In October 2016, the International Observation Mission (IOM) stated that the results are valid and that the Census was conducted in accordance with international standards.

The use of the Census results is on hold also because the authorities of the Republika Srpska do not recognize these results and at the end of December 2016 published their own results, which differ from those already published.

Interestingly, when filling out the European Commission Questionnaire, BiH institutions used data from the Census, while RS institutions used their own data. It will be interesting when the Questionnaire goes through the Coordination Mechanism, because if we have contradictory answers, the EU's opinion will not be positive.

The importance of the Census results was also pointed out by the EU Special Representative Lars Gunnar Wigemark, who said that economic and social reforms in the areas of healthcare, education, security, and social reforms are planned based on these results.

Patria's sources from the Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina say that no one knows how long this kind of stalemate will last, but also that nothing can be done without an agreement and the consent of the entity statistical institutes.