Brussels, 02/10/2013 (Agence Europe) - On 1 October, Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Stefan Füle and seven leaders of the main political parties in Bosnia-Herzegovina decided to continue their third high level dialogue meeting on the accession process, held the same day, on 10 October. At the end of their meeting which continued longer than the time allotted, the parties (The presidents of the Serbian Democratic Party (SDS) Mladen Bosic, of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ BiH) Dragan Covic, of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) Milorad Dodid, of the Social Democratic Party of Bosnia-Herzegovina (SDP BiH) Zlatko Lagumdzajija and of the Croatian Democratic Union 1990 (HDZ 1990) Martin Raguz and vice-presidents of the Union for a Better Future of Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH CFF) Misrad Dzonlagic and of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) Bakir Izetbegovic) agreed on different measures to make progress on implementing the Sejdic-Finci ruling of the European Court of Human Rights, and also on a coordination mechanism on European issues. “We agreed on a number of principles which are now going to form guidance for intensive work in Bosnia-Herzegovina”, said Füle.
Progress on country's presidency. In the conclusions which Füle and the seven leaders signed, the parties “fully accepted the need to implement urgently” the Sejdic-Finci ruling, giving the right to all citizens to stand for elections for the Presidency of Bosnia-Herzegovina and the House of Peoples. The Presidency comprises three directly elected members - two are elected from the territory of the Federation (FBiH) “according to the model to be agreed”, and one member is directly elected from the territory of the Republika Srpska (RS). The FBiH and RS are each one constituency, the parties agreed. According to the agreement, a citizen registered to vote for the Brcko district has the right to vote for the member of BiH Presidency either in the RS or in the FBiH, in line with the applicable legislation.
The seven leaders must agree “by 10 October” on “electoral modalities that will meet the legitimate concerns of the constituent peoples and 'others', while meeting international standards.” “The method of election of the two Presidency members from FBiH through amendments of the constitution and election law, should, in addition to the Strasbourg court ruling, prevent imposing the outcome of the election” on any constituent peoples or “others”, the conclusions of the meeting state.
Lastly, the parties agreed to finalise the modalities for the establishment of an effective coordination mechanism on EU issues “by respecting the principles of inclusion based on competencies, enshrined in the constitution in BiH”, which will be presented on 10 October when the high level dialogue is resumed.
Füle stated that he himself and the EU special representative for Bosnia, Peter Sorensen, can be approached by the political parties in order to help them in their tasks.
No pre-accession funds cut. Threatened by the cutting of pre-accession funds if no progress was achieved - a threat which hovered over the meeting on 1 October - Füle said that he was “happy enough” not to start a procedure for making of pre-accession fund resources more distant. Bosnia risked losing 54% of its funding - in other words, €47 million.
Füle reiterated that the progress report on Bosnia will be presented on 16 October, and hoped that the work between now and then would enable this report to be positive. He reiterated that dealing with the Sejdic-Finci ruling would pave the way for a credible EU candidature.
Council of Europe hails progress. On 2 October, Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjorn Jagland hailed the progress achieved at the meeting and also welcomed the fact that representatives from the Council of Europe had been invited. He said he expected the political leaders to face up to their responsibilities to the citizens of Bosnia-Herzegovina and clarify the issues that were still in suspense before the deadline of 10 October. (CG/transl.fl)