Commission for Cooperation with the Diaspora Established in the BiH Parliament

(Patria) - At the 35th session of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina (PA BiH), the Bill on Amendments to the Law on Value Added Tax of Bosnia and Herzegovina, proposed by MP Mia Karamehić Abazović, was adopted as an urgent procedure.

The House previously adopted the proposer's request for this Bill to be considered under urgent procedure. Along with this Bill, the House adopted a conclusion tasking the Indirect Taxation Authority of BiH to draft, within 60 days of the adoption of this Law, the Rulebook on the taxation of games of chance and, possibly, other documents necessary for the implementation of the amendments to the BiH VAT Law, Article 25, Paragraph (1), Point 7). The House also adopted a conclusion requesting the House of Peoples of PA BiH to consider this Bill under urgent procedure, in accordance with Article 124, Paragraph (1) of the Rules of Procedure of the House of Peoples of PA BiH.

The House adopted, under a shortened procedure and in the first reading, the Bill on Amendments to the Law on Salaries and Benefits in the Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, proposed by MPs Nihad Omerović, Jasmin Imamović, and Predrag Kojović.

An amendment to the Rules of Procedure of the House of Representatives of PA BiH was adopted, establishing the Commission for Cooperation with the Diaspora as a permanent working body of this House within the House of Representatives.

At the request of the proposer, the Bill on Amendments to the Law on Salaries and Benefits in the Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, proposed by MPs Milan Dunović, Zlatan Begić, and Vlatko Glavaš, with a request for urgent procedure consideration, was withdrawn from the procedure. It was agreed that this Bill, with certain amendments, would be included in the agenda of the next regular session of the House of Representatives of PA BiH.

The House decided that the Bill on Amendments to the Law on Financing of Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, proposed by MP Marinko Čavara, would be considered under the regular procedure. Previously, the House did not accept the proposer's request for this Bill to be considered under urgent procedure, nor was the proposal for a shortened legislative procedure adopted.

Due to the absence of the proposer, the House did not discuss the Bill on Amendments to the Law on Prevention of Conflict of Interest in Institutions at the Level of Bosnia and Herzegovina, proposed by the Joint Commission for Administrative Affairs, with a request for urgent procedure consideration.

After the second negative opinion from the Constitutional-Legal Committee, the House, in accordance with the Rules of Procedure, stated that the legislative procedure is suspended for the following bills:
• Bill on Amendments to the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina, proposed by MP Nihad Omerović;
• Bill on State Property, proposed by MPs Jasmin Emrić, Šemsudin Mehmedović, Aida Baručija, and Elvisa Hodžić.

The House of Representatives adopted the Consolidated Opinion on the Financial Audit of Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina for 2024. 73 financial audit reports of BiH institutions for 2024 were adopted, of which:
• 63 financial audit reports of BiH institutions, whose financial operations were assessed with an auditor's "positive opinion" and "positive opinion with a call for attention" (based on the auditor's opinion on financial statements and based on the auditor's opinion on compliance);
• 10 financial audit reports of BiH institutions whose financial operations were assessed with an auditor's "qualified opinion with a call for attention" (based on the auditor's opinion on financial statements and based on the auditor's opinion on compliance).

Along with these reports, the House adopted the following conclusions:
• The House of Representatives obliges the management of 48 BiH institutions, whose financial operations in 2024 were assessed with an auditor's "positive opinion with a call for attention" (including calls for attention with positive auditor's opinions on financial statements and/or with positive auditor's opinions on compliance), to take all necessary measures within the competence of each institution individually to avoid further consequences of the issues highlighted by the audit in the "positive opinion", and especially to ensure that the materiality of such audit findings does not potentially escalate into future qualifications in the next audit report;
• The House of Representatives adopts the proposed conclusions of the Commission for 10 BiH institutions, contained in individual commission opinions for each BiH institution, whose financial audit reports for 2024 were subject to detailed commission analysis;
• The House of Representatives requests the Agency for Identification Documents, Circulation and Exchange of BiH, the State Regulatory Agency for Radiation and Nuclear Safety of BiH, the Border Police of BiH, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of BiH, the Commission for the Preservation of National Monuments of BiH, the Service for Common Affairs of BiH Institutions, the Service for Foreigners' Affairs of BiH, the Indirect Taxation Authority of BiH, and the Veterinary Office of BiH to, each institution separately, pay special attention to further strengthening their internal control systems in order to increase the efficiency of financial operations and the reliability of financial reports;
• The House of Representatives tasks the Council of Ministers of BiH to, in cooperation with the Office of the Auditor General of BiH Institutions, submit to the Prosecutor's Office of BiH and the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) all audit reports of BiH institutions that have received a repeated qualified or negative opinion in the last three years, for consideration of the existence of elements of criminal liability, and to submit information on the actions taken to the House of Representatives within 90 days.

The House of Representatives also adopted the Annual Audit Report on Main Findings and Recommendations for 2024, submitted by the Office of the Auditor General of BiH Institutions. Along with this Report, the House adopted the following conclusions:
• Considering that the Decision on Principles for Determining the Internal Organization of Administrative Bodies of BiH and the Decision on Classification of Job Positions and Criteria for Describing Job Positions in Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina were adopted in 2013, and that a significant number of BiH institutions have not yet harmonized their internal organization rulebooks with the aforementioned decisions, the House of Representatives of PA BiH tasks the Council of Ministers of BiH to prepare an analysis of what has been done so far in this regard (review by BiH institutions), identify the reasons for the slowness in harmonizing the internal organization rulebooks with the said decisions, and take measures and activities to complete this process. The Council of Ministers of BiH is tasked to submit detailed information on the activities undertaken based on this conclusion to the House of Representatives of PA BiH within 3 months of receiving the conclusion;
• The House of Representatives of PA BiH tasks the Council of Ministers of BiH to submit to this House, within 30 days of receiving the conclusion, detailed information on the work of the Public Administration Reform Fund of BiH, starting from 2018, stating the reasons and circumstances affecting the Fund's operation.
The House adopted the Report on the Work of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina for 2024 at today's session.

The Report on the Performance Audit conducted on the topic: "Activities of BiH Institutions in Ensuring Competition in Public Procurement", submitted by the Office of the Auditor General of BiH Institutions, was also adopted.

The Report on the Performance Audit conducted on the topic: "Efficiency of BiH Institutions in Establishing Uniform Employee Distribution within Salary Grades", submitted by the Office of the Auditor General of BiH Institutions, was also adopted. Along with this Report, the House adopted a conclusion instructing the Ministry of Finance and Treasury of BiH to undertake activities for the implementation of the recommendation from the performance audit report "Efficiency of Institutions in Establishing Uniform Employee Distribution within Salary Grades", and to submit to the House of Representatives of PA BiH Information on the measures and activities taken to implement the given recommendation within 90 days from the date of receiving the conclusion.

The Report on Activities for the Introduction of Specific Election Technologies in the Electoral Process of Bosnia and Herzegovina (July - November 2025), submitted by the Central Election Commission of BiH, was adopted.

The House adopted the Report on the State of Radiation and Nuclear Safety in Bosnia and Herzegovina for 2024, submitted by the State Regulatory Agency for Radiation and Nuclear Safety. Along with this Report, the House adopted a conclusion requesting the Council of Ministers of BiH to provide the House of Representatives, within 30 days of receiving the conclusion, with detailed information on the reasons why a favorable location for the Central Radioactive Material Storage Facility in BiH has not been proposed or defined for a decade.

Due to the absence of the proposer, the House of Representatives did not discuss the Reform Agenda, submitted by the Council of Ministers of BiH.

The House appointed Alen Halep as the Director of the Agency for Prevention of Corruption and Coordination of Fight against Corruption.

A Decision on announcing a Public Competition for the appointment of a member of the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina from among others was also made.

The House of Representatives gave consent for the ratification of:
• Amendment No. 1 to the Financing Agreement between Bosnia and Herzegovina (Borrower) and the European Investment Bank (Bank) of December 28, 2020, Corridor 5c Medakovo – Poprikuše (Financing Agreement) – Operation Number (Serapis Number): 2019-0751, Agreement Number (FI Number): 91.682;
• Agreement between the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on mutual exemption from short-term visa requirements for holders of diplomatic, official, and service passports;
• Amendment No. 1 to the Financing Agreement between Bosnia and Herzegovina ("Borrower") Republika Srpska ("Promoter") and the European Investment Bank ("Bank") of December 20, 2019, ("Financing Agreement") – Flood Protection Measures RS, Operation Number: (Serapis No.): 2017-0697; Agreement Number (FI No.): 88.484.