Forming the Council of Ministers is not the main act in BiH politics but simply the overture, High Representative and EU Special Representative Valentin Inzko told parliamentarians today.
“It is necessary to form a Council of Ministers so that the real work can begin,” he said. “The real work is to fix the economy and get back on the road to the European Union.”
The HR/EUSR said it is no coincidence that living standards in Bosnia and Herzegovina are falling and unemployment is rising in a period when the main political parties have been unable to agree on government formation.
In these circumstances a “virtuous cycle” in which economic development facilitates European integration, and European integration supports economic development, has never been more needed, he said.
“It is precisely because things are so bad that we must do everything in our power to get this cycle started,” the HR/EUSR told participants in the third session of the Parliament for Europe in 2011.
The Parliament for Europeis an EUSR initiative that brings BiH parliamentarians and government leaders together with their EU counterparts to discuss ways of speeding up the integration process.
Noting that “Bosnia and Herzegovina needs a Council of Ministers now – not six months from now,” the HR/EUSR said legislative priorities include enacting a BiH Census Law, which is essential to the EU accession process and which will provide adequate statistical information to determine what needs to be done and where it needs to be done.
Other priorities include enacting the BiH Law on Obligations and modernising the banking supervision system, both of which are key elements in developing the single economic space. The HR/EUSR said these measures would help to boost trade, attract investment, create jobs and raise living standards.
“Without vigorous and constructive parliamentary opposition, standards of government have declined,” he said. “Just in the last few weeks we have seen popular demonstrations in various parts of the country against government inefficiency and extravagance. It is up to parliamentarians to act so that governments in the Federation, the RS and the state actually do the work they were elected to do.”
The full text of HR/EUSR’s remarks can be accessed at www.ohr.int and www.eusrbih.eu
