Council of Ministers of BiH Adopts Work Program: Around 100 Development-Investment Projects in 2017

The Council of Ministers of BiH, with amendments at the session, adopted its Work Program for 2017, which includes around 100 development-investment projects and is dedicated to the EU accession process, fulfilling obligations from the "Partnership for Peace", as well as further improving regional and international cooperation.

The Work Program of the Council of Ministers includes an Action Plan with responsible parties and deadlines for their implementation, an overview of more than 40 laws and around 650 other regulations (decisions, reports, information, analyses, strategies, international agreements, as well as other materials) that will be on the agenda of the Council of Ministers of BiH in 2017, including development-investment projects/programs.

The annual program is based on the Medium-Term Work Program of the Council of Ministers of BiH, which bases the development vision of Bosnia and Herzegovina on five general development principles (integrated growth, smart growth, sustainable growth, inclusive growth, growth-oriented governance) and thus connects the work of the Council of Ministers of BiH with the "Europe 2020" strategy and the "Southeast Europe 2020" strategy.

On the agenda of the Council of Ministers in 2017 will be laws for the development of the justice sector, arising from the Structured Dialogue between BiH and the EU and obligations stemming from the Stabilization and Association Agreement, several laws in the field of communications, new laws on food and veterinary medicine, on conducting foreign affairs, as well as on the rights of torture victims in BiH, on the Service for Foreigners' Affairs, on medicines and medical devices, on civil service, and other laws aimed at their harmonization with EU legislation.   

It is planned, among other things, to adopt several strategies, namely for the fight against organized crime in Bosnia and Herzegovina; for the supervision of narcotic drugs; on the reform of the healthcare system in BiH; as well as to adopt a medium-term debt management strategy in BiH and improve the legal framework for cooperation with the diaspora by adopting a policy and strategy on cooperation with the BiH diaspora. 

An important segment of the work will be strengthening cooperation and partnerships at the regional and international level, which will be followed by the conclusion of a series of bilateral agreements, as well as intensifying joint projects with civil society organizations in BiH.

In 2017, negotiations within the process of Bosnia and Herzegovina's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) will continue.