Mostar authorities have to speed up the pace of integration in the
city

The deadline given by the High Representative Christian Schwarz-Schilling to
the Mostar authorities to speed up the pace of integration in the city, passed
yesterday. In his letter to Mostar political leaders sent late last week, the
High Representative has expressed his concern about the current political
stalemate, and has asked them to intensify their efforts to resolve two
outstanding issues in particular:

• The completion of the systematization including the
  appointment of civil servants positions, and
  
• The unification of the public utilities companies.

A report yesterday from the city authorities to the High Representative
indicated that there may be further progress on those issues in the next session
of the Mostar City Council, which convenes today.  The OHR is following the
session closely, and encourages the council to move ahead and adopt already
overdue decisions.

As a reminder, this week the High Representative will address the Peace
Implementation Council, and will report on the progress, or lack thereof, in
Mostar.

The HR has called for a follow up meeting in
Sarajevo
in the first week of July
to discuss the progress report and draw conclusions from that.

Systemic Solutions Benefit Everyone

The High Representative, Christian Schwarz-Schilling, and the Principal
Deputy High Representative, Larry Butler, will meet with representatives of the
international chambers of commerce this afternoon in
Sarajevo.

As you know, the High Representative has made it a priority since he took up
his duties at the start of February to promote the Small and Medium-Sized
Enterprise sector in BiH. This comes from his own experience running an SME
before he went into politics. He has repeatedly said that BiH can follow the
example of

Germany
and
other countries in
Western Europe whose postwar recovery
and economic prosperity was built on a thriving SME sector.

The High Representative has focused his activities until now on encouraging
the development of more effective business advocacy, and in the past few months
he and Principal Deputy High Representative Larry Butler have held a series of
meetings with chambers of commerce and other business support organisations,
such as the Business Service Centre in Zenica.

This afternoon’s meeting will explore ways in which the international
chambers can work with their BiH counterparts to make business advocacy in BiH
more effective.

Business advocacy in BiH has traditionally been premised on resolving
individual problems or promoting individual projects – whereas in
other countries lobbying is more conventionally viewed as a means of resolving
systemic problems. If a systemic problem is fixed then more than one company can
benefit.

Three Prime Ministers and Brcko Mayor Convene to
discuss and endorse National
PAR Strategy on 22 June –
Important Step for Future of BiH

The Prime Ministers of Bosnia and
Herzegovina, the
Federation and Republika Srpska, as well as the District Mayor of Brcko are
meeting tomorrow to discuss the PAR strategy
at a national conference on Public Administration Reform
(PAR).

The joint endorsement of the

PAR strategy
and its accompanying action plan is an essential step in

Bosnia and Herzegovina

’s process of European Integration
and will help make the public administration more effective, efficient and
accountable.  Progress in

PAR is also
vital for

Bosnia and Herzegovina

to complete the Stabilisation and
Association negotiations and is a clear signal that the authorities of this
country are willing to move ahead with reforms that will have a direct and
positive impact on the lives of citizens.

This

PAR strategy has been developed by
the

PAR Coordinator’s Office in the course of
the last few months with significant input from – and endorsement of – nominated
representatives from the State, Entities and Brcko district. The

PAR Strategy is largely based on the
recommendations deriving from the EC-financed system reviews of the Public
Administration carried out in 2004-2005.

Once approved, the International Community is ready to financially support
the governments in the implementation of the
PAR Strategy. We believe that the
PAR strategy should provide the main
framework for assistance in this sector. Therefore, the EC and the governments
of the
Netherlands ,
Sweden and the
United Kingdom
have joined forces to develop a PAR Fund
which will finance activities deriving from this
PAR action plan. In addition to the direct
technical assistance to the PAR Coordinator’s
Office, the PAR Fund has so far mobilised 4,5
million Euro for this purpose.We encourage all donors active in this sector to
ensure that their activities are fully in line with the
PAR strategy and are co-ordinated through the
PAR Coordinator Office

We congratulate the

PAR Coordinator Office
for having developed this comprehensive

PAR
strategy jointly with relevant stakeholders at all government levels. We urge
the State, Entity and Brcko authorities to adopt the strategy and begin
implementing the action plan as soon as possible.

The High Representative to meet with German Minister of
Defence

The High Representative, Christian Schwarz-Schilling, will tomorrow meet with
German Minister of Defence Dr. Franz Josef Jung. The two will discuss the
current politicial situation in BiH, progress in BiH’s defence reforms and the
potential for BiH to join NATO’s Partnership for Peace.

A short press opportunity will be organized at 12.45 on Thursday
22 June at the OHR
Sarajevo.

All representatives of the media are cordially invited to
attend.