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SARAJEVO, November 26 (FENA) - The fifth meeting of the Stabilization and Association Committee between the European Union and Bosnia and Herzegovina was held today via video conference when it was pointed out that it is time for BiH to intensify work on meeting 14 priorities from the European Commission Opinion.
Welcoming the actions taken so far, the European Commission also said that the implementation of these priorities requires stronger political involvement.
The Commission welcomed the holding of local elections as well as preparations for their implementation in Mostar and stressed the importance of drafting the Program for BiH's EU Integration, which began in October.
The European Commission called on BiH to complete the process of adopting the Action Plan for Public Administration Reform in BiH as soon as possible, as well as the adoption of a nationwide strategy for public financial management.
The commission stressed the urgent need to address shortcomings in the functioning of the judiciary, and key steps the BiH authorities need to take are the adoption of a law on the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC), a law on BiH courts and a state-level conflict of interest law.
It was pointed out that the EU continues to support BiH in managing the migrant crisis, and that there is still no improvement in coordination among the competent institutions in BiH.
The Commission stressed that BiH needs to strengthen its economic policy capacity and implement the guidelines from the last Economic and Financial Dialogue.
The Commission called on BiH to withdraw measures for preferential treatment of domestic suppliers in the award of public procurements. BiH's obligations include the adoption of a law on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions, a law on electronic communications and electronic media.
BiH needs to develop and adopt a nationwide employment strategy and a smart specialization strategy, it said.
The BiH delegation informed the European Commission about the activities undertaken in BiH and sent requests to the EU institutions regarding the issue of radioactive waste disposal at the site of Trgovska gora, the Directorate for European Integration of BiH announced.
The fifth meeting of the Stabilization and Association Committee was co-chaired by the Director of the Directorate for European Integration Edin Dilberović and the Head of the Department for Albania and BiH in DG NEAR Michela Matuella.
Delegations discussed the implementation of the Stabilization and Association Agreement and the European Commission's recommendations on the political and economic criteria and sector policies.
(FENA) A. B.
