Council of Ministers Holds Its 92nd Session Devoted to EU Integrations

BIH CITIZENS’ SUPPORT OT EU INTEGRATIONS ON RISE 

At its thematic session, devoted to the EU integrations, the Council of Ministers of BIH adopted Information on results of a public poll conducted in February 2014, showing that 85 per cent BIH respondents support Bosnia and Herzegovina’s joining the European Union.

The EU accession got support from 90 per cent of respondents in the Federation of BIH and from about 3 / 4 of respondents in Republika Srpska. Over 85 per cent of interviewed citizens have a positive attitude towards the EU, which is about five per cent more than a year earlier, reveals information of the Directorate for European Integrations.

A job creation is the major advantage of joining the European Union, according to 40 out of 100 respondents, twice as much the number of respondents confident that the EU accession would guarantee peace and political stability. Seven per cent respondents do not see any benefits of joining the EU.

The majority of respondents deem high living costs and taxes to be the main disadvantages of EU membership; however the considerable lesser number of respondents shares the opinion than in the 2012 poll. Simultaneously, 10 per cent of citizens do not find any disadvantages of entering the EU, which is a much higher percentage relative to results of a poll a year ago.

Almost two thirds of respondents believe that the fight against corruption is the most important reform to take on, and a comparison with previous pools proves the annual growth rate of citizens’ support to this reform of 10 per cent.

Over 35 per cent of respondents think that BH has a status of potential EU candidate, and even 32 per cent are positive that BIH is in the process of negotiation on the EU membership.

Reforms are necessary for the sake of creating better living conditions in BIH – is the opinion of 66.7 of respondents.

The poll showed the interest of BIH citizens in the topics concerning the EU funds, most notably in concrete EU-funded projects. Only 16 per cent of respondents are not interested in the topics.

 

TO SUPPLEMENT MUTI-BENEFICIARY IPA

The Council of Ministers concluded, by a majority vote, that the Directorate for European Integrations should provide documents relating to a Multi-Beneficiary IPA II (2104-2020) and Draft Multi-Country Strategic IPA II Document to competent and responsible all-level institutions in BIH for their comment and opinion, as a part of IPA II preparations, so that the Council of Ministers might reflect on those within a 15 day deadline.

 

COUNCIL OF MINISTERS ON SIX TERRITORIAL COOPERATION PROGRAMMES

The Council of Ministers of BIH adopted Information of the Directorate for European Integrations on main features of the 2014-2020 Territorial Cooperation Programme and on programming process.

Upon the completion of the programming process and adoption of EC operative programmes on all six BIH-relevant territorial operation programmes in 2014-2020, the Directorate for European Integrations is to brief the Council of Ministers of BIH thereof.

These are cooperation programmes with Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro and transnational cooperation programmes, i.e. Danube, Adriatic-Ionian and Mediterranean Programmes, respectively.  

 

 

 

TO SCHEDULE A NEW MEETING OF INTERNAL MARKET SUB-COMMITTEE

The Council of Ministers adopted, by a majority vote, a Revised Information of the Directorate for European Integrations on the sixth meeting of the Temporary Sub-Committee for Internal Market and Competition, planned for March 19, 2014 in Sarajevo.

The Directorate for European Integrations is in charge to set-up with the European commission a new date of the meeting, subject to Rules of Procedure of the Temporary Committee for Stabilisation and Accession.

 

POSTPONEMENT OF STRUTURAL DIALOGUE PREPARATORY MEETING SHOUGHT

The Council of Ministers of BIH discussed Information of the Directorate for European Integrations on conditions for holding the seventh Structural Dialogue on Judiciary – thematic meeting, scheduled for April 29, 2014 in Brussels.

The Council of Ministers of BIH concluded, by a majority vote, to request for a postponement of a thematic meeting as prearrangement for the seventh Structural Dialogue on Judiciary meeting, until the Council of Ministers of BIH settles some outstanding issues, which is a prerequisite for the meeting to take place.

 

CONSENT TO POLLING IN BIH

Upon a proposal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Council of Ministers granted its consent to a voting by citizens of the Republic of Slovenia in BIH territory on a referendum on Law on Amendments and Supplements to the Law on Storing Documents and Archive Material and on Archives. The referendum will be held on May 4, 2014 from 9.00 to 17.00 in the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia in Sarajevo.

Also, consent was grated to a voting by citizens of the Republic of Bulgaria on May 25 this year for representatives in the European Parliament. Bulgarian citizens in BIH will be able to vote in the Embassy of Bulgaria in Sarajevo in time between 6.00 and 21.00 hrs.

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