Kos expects Reform Agenda document from BiH, but BiH Council of Ministers has not finalized it yet

(Patria) - European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos stated that the EU expects the authorities of Republika Srpska to respect the decisions of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, to annul secessionist laws and accept the outcome of the ongoing court proceedings before the Court of BiH, regardless of the outcome.

The European Union Commissioner for Enlargement spoke yesterday before the Members of the European Parliament about the situation in the candidate countries for EU accession.

Speaking about BiH, she emphasized that reforms and integration into the EU are the only way forward. She also stressed that respecting the rulings of BiH judicial institutions is a prerequisite for de-escalation.

“We expect BiH to take all necessary steps identified by the European Commission in 2022, based on which the European Council could adopt the Negotiating Framework for membership, after which we would hold the first intergovernmental conference on BiH's accession process to the EU,” Kos further stated.

The Commissioner expressed satisfaction that “BiH is finally taking the necessary steps we have asked of it, so as not to lose more than one billion euros in investments through the Growth Plan.”

Congratulating on the agreement reached by various levels of government in BiH, she stated that she expects “the agreed reform plan to be immediately submitted to the European Commission.”

“Progress on the path to the EU is the best guarantee of BiH's security and prosperity,” she emphasized.

Kos concluded her speech by stating that the EU will continue to support BiH as one, united, and sovereign state.

After the session of the BiH Council of Ministers on July 3, the BiH Minister of Foreign Affairs Elmedin Konaković stated that they have a deadline of seven days to agree on the reform plan and submit it to Brussels.

However, the conclusions of the BiH Council of Ministers from the telephone session on June 27 stated that after the harmonization of the text and the opinions of all competent levels of government, and no later than within 45 days, the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina will be informed about it, for the purpose of sending the document for further procedure.

“The Draft List of Reforms and the Draft Reform Agenda are adopted – along with all comments received from the members of the Working Team. The competent ministries in the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina are tasked with, together with all competent ministries at other levels, continuing activities on harmonizing comments in order to finalize the text of the Reform Agenda, in accordance with constitutional competencies,” the conclusion states.

The next session is scheduled for July 22, but it is not yet known whether the final document will be finalized and adopted.