Assessing Bosnia and Herzegovina’s progress in the field of rural development and agriculture, as well as looking into key problems and priority steps which ought to be taken in line with the process of accession to the European Union was the focus of the third public discussion organised by the Citizens for Europe Initiative held in the EU House in Sarajevo on Friday, 15 November 2013.

Head of the EU Delegation and EU Special Representative in BiH, Ambassador Peter Sorensen, First Secretary of Embassy of Sweden, Jonathan Francis, Coordinator of the Initiative Citizens for Europe, Amra Seleskovic, and Thematic civil society advocate, Aleksandar Milanović, participated in the discussion along with over 50 representatives of relevant government institutions, agencies and organisations of civil society.

On the occasion, Ambassador Sorensen said:

“The farming and the food sectors together provide 7% of all jobs and generate 6% of European gross domestic product. In Bosnia and Herzegovina we operate with figures whereby the agricultural sector accounts for around 8% of the GDP and 20% of employments. In addition we have around 60% of the population in Bosnia and Herzegovina living in rural areas. Unfortunately, as was noted in recently published EU Progress Report, Bosnia and Herzegovina is making little progress in the Agriculture and Rural development sector and is lagging behind the other countries of the region.”
 
Ambassador Sorensesn also emphasized that throughout the past 17 years, the EU has supported the rural development and agricultural sector with 60 million Euro.

The Citizens for Europe aims its activities towards the achievement of the three priority goals in the sector of Rural Development and Agriculture by the end of 2013 and ask the relevant institutions:
 
• To improve system of informing of citizens and interested professional public on all governments’ activities in agriculture and rural development;
 
• To adopt institutional mechanisms for involvement of experts in rural development and agriculture recommended by civil society organizations in preparation of draft policy papers as well as a Guidance for consultation with CSO in the process of development of public policies;

• To strengthen capacities of the Office for harmonization and coordination of payment system in agriculture, food and rural development and other relevant public institutions.

The Citizens for Europe Initiative is a unique action of the civil society in BiH aimed at advancing the process of European integration and intensifying the activities of the governmental officials in implementation of the necessary reforms.  After three years of work, the initiative has grown into a network of 67 members, civil society organisations from the whole of BiH which, through their work, contribute to the BiH path to the European Union.

The initiative Citizens for Europe is implemented under the auspices of the EU Special representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ambassador Peter Sorensen, and with the support of the Swedish Embassy and SIDA. This year, once again, the Initiative is led by the expert team of Vesta, Tuzla.

To learn more about the Initiative, click here