News in English     | 28.02.2020. 13:51 |

Nikolov: Merit-based civil service a cornerstone of good public administration

FENA Muamer Selimbegovic

SARAJEVO, February 28 (FENA) – “Public Administration Reform in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina – challenges and objectives” roundtable, organized today by the FBiH Ministry of Justice and SIGMA/OECD (a joint initiative of the European Union and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development).

The participants in the meeting - FBiH and cantonal officials, as well as international representatives, elaborated various aspects and challenges in the application of FBiH and cantonal civil service laws.

According to FBiH Minister of Justice Mato Jozić, the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2018 has established a strategy for public administration reform, which, among other things, envisages the adoption of a new civil service law.

This issue became relevant after the rulings of the FBiH Constitutional Court, which require the Federation and the cantons to agree on a permanent basis on the adoption of a single law at the FBiH level.

Minister Jozić emphasizes that it follows the formation of a working group on partnership between the cantons and the FBiH in order to start drafting a new law on civil service, with full respect to the specifics of the two levels of government.

According to him, the FBiH Government tasked the Public Administration Office to be the coordinator of public administration reform, and it remains to be considered - will the aforementioned law at the FBiH level be merely indicative, with each canton adopting its own law based on that framework?

Head of European Integration, Political, Press and Information section of the EU Delegation to BiH, Krassimir Nikolov, pointed out to FENA that public administration reform is an extremely important segment, and that it is an area listed among the 14 priorities of the European Commission's Opinion.

“The European Commission will monitor progress towards achieving all 14 priorities in order to make its own recommendations regarding the opening of negotiations,” Nikolov said, emphasizing that these are complex issues, especially given the complexity of the constitutional system in BiH.

He said that public administration reform entails the involvement of all authorities, as well as maximum efforts in the field of civil service organization and strengthening of accountability, including the development of certain policies and advancement in the provision of services to citizens.

“We are extremely motivated to assist the authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina at all levels in order to make progress,” said an official of the EU Delegation to BiH, reminding that SIGMA has the best technical expertise.

Public administration reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina began in 2003, but the necessary level of improvement in this area has not yet been achieved.

The imperative in this respect was also highlighted in the European Commission's Opinion on Bosnia and Herzegovina's application for EU membership from May 2019, which stated that "it is necessary to take steps in the reform of public administration in order to improve the overall functioning of public administration in order by ensuring professional and depoliticized civil service and a coordinated approach to policy-making across the country".

(FENA) A. B.

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