Disputed Law on Civil Servants in FBiH: Novalić is Playing with Brussels' Patience!

Jean-Eric Paquet, Director for the Western Balkans at the Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations, wrote to Fadil Novalić, Prime Minister of FBiH, on October 19th regarding the new Law on Civil Servants in FBiH, but the Prime Minister apparently ignored it, and Paquet sent another letter to Novalić on October 23rd, reports the Patria News Agency.

In his letter, Paquet stated that he expressed concern about the proposed Law on Civil Service in FBiH.

Consulting with Sigma experts, it is clear that the proposed amendments include a vertical change in public administration, which will affect the number of managerial civil servants, secretaries, and assistant ministers who are politically appointed. According to the proposed amendments, both of these categories will last as long as the ministers' mandates.

Such provisions will jeopardize the independence, professionalism, and stability of public administration leadership. Guarantees for continuity and political neutrality are key to ensuring a stable and independent public administration system.

I wish to encourage your Government to consider this concern so that you ensure the proposed Law on Civil Servants in FBiH is aligned with European principles of public administration – it states, among other things, in the letter.

We remind you that the House of Representatives of the Parliament of the Federation of BiH adopted the Amendments to the Law on Civil Service by urgent procedure. At the same time, the Club of Serbs in the House of Peoples invoked vital national interest, so the entity Constitutional Court will decide on the Law.

However, it is confusing why Novalić said that this draft law is part of the Reform Agenda for which a more reactive and flexible civil service is needed, when it is evident from the letter, obtained by Patria, that the EU is dissatisfied with this solution.

Novalić, on the other hand, stated that the competition criteria for the position of managerial civil servants have not been established and that it is necessary to adopt 11 legal and sub-legal acts, and invited the OHR, the Delegation of the European Union to BiH, and the non-governmental sector to write them within the next 60 days.

Therefore, it remains unclear why the law was sent for urgent procedure, even if the ruling structures themselves say that not everything in it is precise and clear.