Council of Ministers adopts salary and benefits policy in BiH institutions until 2026.

SARAJevo, (Patria) - The Council of Ministers of BiH, at the proposal of the Ministry of Finance and Treasury, adopted the Decision on the adoption of the Policy on salaries and benefits in the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina for the period 2023 - 2026, in accordance with the Law on Salaries and Benefits in the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a correction at the session.

The principle of realism and fiscal responsibility is one of the fundamental principles on which the management of the salary and benefits policy in BiH institutions will be based in the four-year period, which implies taking into account the real situation and expected trends in economic indicators and performance of BiH as a basis for determining the amount of salaries and benefits.

The Policy on salaries and benefits in BiH institutions also envisages the harmonization of regulations in this area in the legislative, executive, and judicial branches at the state level.

Amendment to part of the real estate registration project

The Council of Ministers of BiH determined the Proposal for an amendment to the Loan Agreement (Additional Financing for the Real Estate Registration Project) between Bosnia and Herzegovina and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

The proposed amendment was prepared at the request of the Ministry of Finance of Republika Srpska and relates to changing the method of procurement implementation in order to improve the infrastructure in cadastral and land registry offices.

The Loan Agreement between BiH and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development was signed on July 2, 2020, with the aim of supporting the development of a sustainable real estate registration system with harmonized records in the land registry and cadastre in urban areas of the Federation of BiH and Republika Srpska.

The Proposal for an amendment, along with the grounds for its conclusion, will be submitted to the Presidency of BiH for further procedure, and the Minister of Finance and Treasury of BiH has been proposed as the BiH signatory.

BiH and Bulgaria strengthen cooperation in tourism

The Council of Ministers of BiH adopted the Proposal for the conclusion of a Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation in the field of tourism between the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of BiH and the Ministry of Tourism of the Republic of Bulgaria.

The Memorandum of Understanding envisages the exchange of information and research, as well as the promotion of mutual investments in various areas within the tourism sector, for the purpose of developing tourism infrastructure and strengthening friendly relations between Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Bulgaria.

The Proposal for the conclusion of the Memorandum of Understanding will be submitted to the Presidency of BiH for further procedure, and the Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations has been proposed as the BiH signatory.

Coordination Body for Trgovska Gora

The Council of Ministers of BiH, at the proposal of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations, adopted the Decision on amending and supplementing the Decision on the appointment of members of the Coordination Body of Bosnia and Herzegovina for the issue of radioactive waste disposal and spent nuclear fuel at the Trgovska Gora site.

In this way, instead of the former Minister of Spatial Planning, Civil Engineering and Ecology of Republika Srpska, Srebrenka Golić, the new Minister Bojan Vipotnik was appointed to the Coordination Body.

At the same time, Selma Užičanin was appointed to the Coordination Body on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of BiH, which is included in the work of the Coordination Body.

Ministers competent for the environment and the director of the radiation and nuclear safety sector were previously appointed to this Coordination Body.

Vehicle type approval fees lower than previously proposed

The Council of Ministers of BiH, at the proposal of the Ministry of Communications and Transport, adopted the Decision on supplementing the tariff of administrative fees in the new text, in accordance with the Rulebook on vehicle type approval and the Law on Administrative Fees.

In this way, the Tariff of administrative fees will include fees for actions taken in the vehicle type approval procedure for which the Ministry of Communications and Transport is competent. The fee ranges from BAM 20 for issuing a certificate of conformity of vehicle type and BAM 10 for supplementing a certificate of conformity of vehicle type, which is also the fee for issuing a certificate of conformity for an individual vehicle.

The new text of the decision reduced the amount of fees that were previously proposed at the level of BAM 20 to BAM 50, and abolished the fee for issuing a certificate of conformity for type approval of vehicle parts, devices, and equipment, which was proposed by the decision considered at the 52nd session of the Council of Ministers of BiH.

This reduction is in line with the commitment of the Council of Ministers of BiH to rationalize the amount and number of fees in accordance with the recommendations of the Office of the Auditor of BiH institutions from the report on the topic 'Basic prerequisites for effective management of fees and charges of BiH institutions'.

Information on the migration situation in BiH for January 2023 adopted

The Council of Ministers of BiH adopted the Information of the Ministry of Security on the situation in the field of migration in Bosnia and Herzegovina for January 2023, which will be submitted to the Presidency of BiH.

In January 2023, the Service for Foreigners' Affairs registered 1,608 illegal migrants, which is 42% less than in December of the previous year, but also significantly more compared to January 2022, when 476 were registered. Among the top five countries of origin of migrants are Afghanistan, Morocco, Cuba, Congo, and Iran, with Afghans constituting more than half of the illegal migrants. The intention to apply for asylum was expressed by 1,470 people, of whom only 20 submitted applications.

In four temporary reception centers (total capacity of 4,880 places), an average of 1,010 migrants stayed in January this year, and on January 31, 2023, 873 people were staying in these centers.

The BiH Border Police registered 760 persons attempting or having attempted illegal border crossing, which is 52% less compared to the previous month. Among the persons detected in illegal crossing, most are from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Congo, while the primary entry routes are from Serbia and Montenegro. The greatest migration pressure at the entrance to BiH was recorded in the areas of operation of the Border Police units Zvornik, Hum-Foča, and Bijeljina, and migrants were detected outside the border crossing areas in 97% of cases.

During January 2023, a total of 26 persons were returned to their countries of origin or countries that accept them, and on January 31, 2023, 51 persons were staying in the Immigration Center.

Alignment of BiH legislation with the EU acquis

At the session, the responsible ministries and other BiH institutions, along with the heads of administrative bodies authorized to adopt regulations, were tasked with regularly submitting regulations being aligned with the acquis, all implementing regulations, and regulations fulfilling obligations from documents important for the integration of Bosnia and Herzegovina into the European Union to the Directorate for European Integration of the Council of Ministers of BiH for verification and confirmation of compliance.

This conclusion was adopted by the Council of Ministers of BiH after it adopted the Information from the Directorate for European Integration on the application of the Decision on the procedure for aligning Bosnia and Herzegovina's legislation with the European Union's acquis for 2022.

During this period, the Directorate for European Integration issued 150 opinions on regulatory compliance and provided expert assistance in their drafting through participation in 27 working groups and 35 informal consultations.

Based on the review of regulations in the 'Official Gazette of BiH' in 2022, it was determined that the Directorate for European Integration provided opinions on compliance for 56 published regulations, of which 29 regulations were aligned with the acquis, while five regulations relevant to the European integration process were adopted and published without its prior opinion on compliance.

Reports on climate change and greenhouse gas emissions adopted

The Council of Ministers of BiH, at the proposal of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations, adopted the Fourth National Report on Climate Change (FNC) and the Third Biennial Report on Greenhouse Gas Emissions (TBUR) in Bosnia and Herzegovina under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change – UNFCCC, with suggestions adopted at the session.

The reports were prepared as part of fulfilling Bosnia and Herzegovina's obligations under the Convention's framework, as well as its global obligations within international cooperation mechanisms for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

These reports contain an overview of updated activities and information on achieving appropriate progress in combating the consequences of climate change, and an integral part is the analysis of sensitivity and adaptation possibilities to climate change by sectors, defining directions of action for their adaptation.

Furthermore, the reports cover mitigation measures and improvements to the domestic system for measuring climate change, reporting, and verification, as well as information on changes in public awareness models regarding the importance of environmental protection, education and systematic research, and monitoring and transfer of technologies in the context of combating climate change.

The Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations is obliged to submit these reports to the contact institution for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) for BiH, for submission to the UNFCCC Secretariat.

Implementation of the law on control of arms and military equipment for 2022

The Council of Ministers of BiH adopted the Report of the Ministry of Security on the implementation of the Law on the Control of Arms and Military Equipment for 2022.

Last year, 834 decisions approving the movement of arms and military equipment were issued, which is an increase of 10.17% in issued approvals compared to 2021. There were 499 decisions for import, while 335 were issued for export. A total of 834 business entities submitted requests for the movement of arms and military equipment.

At the same time, in 2022, 405 prior approvals were issued, which authorize the movement of arms and military equipment between entities, cantons, and Brčko District of BiH, upon the request of the competent cantonal and entity ministries of internal affairs and the Brčko District of BiH.

Last year, a total of 52 reports on the movement of arms and military equipment and hazardous substances were submitted, including movement within Bosnia and Herzegovina and export/import to BiH.

Report on serious criminal offenses committed in BiH last year

The Council of Ministers of BiH, at the proposal of the Ministry of Justice, adopted the Report from the Central Database on serious criminal offenses committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2022.

According to the Report, in the period from 2020 to 2022, a total of 1,222 verdicts were recorded in the Central Database on convicted cases for all criminal offenses for which centralization is maintained, and in 2022, 326 verdicts were issued against 348 persons. The verdicts cover criminal offenses related to money laundering, terrorism, drug abuse, human trafficking and smuggling, kidnapping, as well as pornography, prostitution, and forgery. These are criminal offenses for which international agreements provide for data centralization and for which BiH courts are obliged to submit final verdicts to the Ministry of Justice of BiH.

The Ministry of Justice is obliged, at the end of each calendar year, to submit to the Council of Ministers of BiH a review and analysis of convicted cases based on data from the Central Database, and to regularly submit reports to the Ministry of Security of BiH for verdicts against perpetrators of criminal offenses of unauthorized production, processing, and sale of narcotic drugs and poisons. Also, this report is regularly submitted to the training centers for judges and prosecutors of the Federation of BiH and Republika Srpska.

Public involvement in the creation of regulations at the state level

The Council of Ministers of BiH adopted the Report of the Ministry of Justice on the implementation of the Rules for consultations in the drafting of legal regulations for 2022, with additional conclusions at the session.

On the eConsultations web platform, 67 institutions and a total of 3757 legal and natural persons are registered, which is an increase of two institutions compared to the previous year. At the same time, during this period, 527 consultations were conducted in the drafting of legal regulations and other acts, and 435 reports on conducted consultations were published. Among the 190 registered participants for public consultations, 73 participated in the consultations. A total of 174 proposals were received, of which institutions fully or partially accepted nine.

Activities on improving the system of transparency, cooperation, and openness towards citizens and civil society organizations continue, and the interested public is invited to participate in the public consultation process in the drafting of legal regulations. These efforts by the Ministry of Justice of BiH were recognized by ReSPA and OECD/SIGMA with a special award for public administration in the Western Balkans in 2022.

Alignment of the decision with the Law on Personal Data Protection

The Council of Ministers of BiH adopted the Decision on amending the Decision on framework criteria for awarding monetary bonuses to employees in the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, after the Agency for Personal Data Protection in BiH requested the alignment of this decision with the provisions of the Law on Personal Data Protection.

The Agency for Personal Data Protection in BiH assessed that the previously defined obligation to publish data on monetary bonuses paid to employees in BiH institutions on the official website of the institution was not in line with the principles of fairness and legality, which is why it was necessary to delete this part of the provision.

Public Advertisement

The Council of Ministers of BiH tasked the Ministry of Security of BiH to re-announce a public advertisement for the selection of an assistant director for internal control in the Service for Foreigners' Affairs and to conduct the competition procedure.

Previously, the Council of Ministers of BiH was informed about the Information regarding the conduct of the competition procedure, which states that no applications were received for this position after the public advertisement was published in September 2022.

Consent for appointment

The Council of Ministers of BiH, at the proposal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave consent for the appointment of Istvan Szegedi as the Police Attaché of Hungary for Bosnia and Herzegovina, based in Skopje.