Pivić: The Council of Ministers can resolve the Growth Plan issue, we have not received calls for new meetings

(Patria) - Nezir Pivić, Prime Minister of the Zenica-Doboj Canton, spoke to Faktor about the Draft Reform Agenda which was not submitted in the First Tranche, thus leaving Bosnia and Herzegovina without 70 million euros in aid from the European Union intended for BiH through the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans.

Pivić, who was also a member of the Working Group for drafting the Reform Plan for the implementation of the Growth Plan, told us that there is no new information regarding the negotiations on the Reform Agenda.

- We have not received any calls for meetings - Pivić said at the beginning of the conversation.

Asked whether a solution to these problems is in sight, Pivić emphasized that everything is in the hands of the Council of Ministers.

- They are responsible for this issue. If they still want to solve this problem and if they believe they are right, let them change the decision on forming the working group. Let them make their own decision, without the working group - he pointed out.

The Growth Plan was not adopted because, reportedly, the conditional response of the prime ministers of four cantons in the Federation of BiH, where the SDA is in power (Tuzla, Zenica-Doboj, Central Bosnia, and Una-Sana), was decisive. That "conditional consent" was interpreted by the leaders of the Troika parties as a "no" vote.

- We have pointed out the shortcomings several times, primarily the reform concerning respect for the decisions of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the implementation of decisions throughout the entire territory. The appointment of all judges of the Constitutional Court and the removal of the veto right in decision-making - said Pivić.

He added that they do not have a single argument why they would accept such a plan for the interests of the state.

- We also talked about those parts where the label "state" was deliberately omitted, to introduce a law that has been declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court and which will be implemented in a very sensitive area - he said, emphasizing the danger of such a law.

Regarding the possibility of the Working Group reconvening, Pivić concluded that there are currently no calls.
Bosnia and Herzegovina did not receive the first tranche of 70 million euros from the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans, which represents seven percent of the billion euros earmarked for our country, because the document was not sent to the European Commission in Brussels.