Išerić: Green light for the start of negotiations means absolutely nothing!

Written by: Enver Išerić

Bosnia and Herzegovina will receive the green light to start negotiations for membership in the European Union. In the 2019 opinion of the European Commission on membership in the European Union, it is stated that "to open accession negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina, BiH will have to thoroughly improve its legislative and institutional framework to ensure the fulfillment of 14 key priorities, which are distributed by areas."

To date, our country has not fulfilled a single one of the set goals/priorities. What has been adopted in state bodies and what we are assured is from the list of fourteen priorities and in line with European standards has no connection with the truth.

Proof of this is the Law on the HJPC, which was supposed to ensure the protection of the judiciary from all forms of politicization and pressure. "The Constitution must explicitly guarantee the independence of the judiciary and provide an explicit constitutional basis for the HJPC and the judicial system at the state level," and instead, a law was adopted that is unenforceable and which emphasizes that it will be harmonized with EU principles within one year.

Instead of establishing a Supreme Court at the state level, which should ensure the harmonization and consistency of case law, Bosnia and Herzegovina is preparing a Law on the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina that reduces the Court's jurisdiction, without forming a Supreme Court.

In the fourth priority - Fundamentally improve the institutional framework, including at the constitutional level, in order to: d) reform the Constitutional Court, including resolving the issue of international judges and ensuring the implementation of its decisions, it is stated in the Opinion that the Constitutional Court is the interpreter of the Constitution and the final authority in case of conflicts of jurisdiction between different levels of government."

However, the problem of the lack of implementation of its decisions is emphasized, as well as the need to strengthen the professionalism and independence of the judges of the Constitutional Court, starting with improving the criteria for appointment and appointment procedures.

Also mentioned is the need to resolve the issue of international judges in the Constitutional Court (it does not speak of the need for their exclusion), but of all the above, the priority is to "eliminate foreign judges, and further complicate the work of the Constitutional Court by introducing ethnic voting."

This means that Bosnia and Herzegovina has fulfilled NOTHING from all 14 priorities. Thus, the green light for the start of negotiations will be conditioned on the fulfillment of the already given 14 priorities. This practically means we are going in circles. Our country is given opportunities and chances through various phases to approach membership, but the conditions remain the same. The results are only worse, because separatist forces are much more aggressive.

Therefore, regardless of how much membership in the European Union would mean to the citizens of our country, one should be neither optimistic nor should the current government be euphoric. Do not throw dust in our eyes. This means nothing for the citizens and for the state. For the citizens, it will only mean a change to the election law that will enable the "integrity of the electoral process," and this must be ensured by the High Representative, and this will prevent manipulation of election results and prevent those whom citizens did not elect from being in positions.

And fulfilling certain priorities from the Opinion of the European Commission, such as "ensuring legal certainty in terms of the division of competencies between levels of government; introducing a substitution clause to allow the state, after accession, to temporarily exercise competencies of other levels of government to prevent and remedy violations of EU law and ensuring that all administrative bodies responsible for implementing the acquis are based exclusively on professionalism and that the right of veto in the decision-making process is removed, in accordance with the acquis," is not possible to realize and fulfill with the existing politicians, without a new international conference, at which the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina would be amended, thereby removing all blockades and ensuring the efficiency of the work of state institutions.