Civil society pointed to the way to a better situation in agriculture
Decision makers in BiH expressed their committment to a continued dialogue and implementation of civil society's recommendations, presented in today's session of the „Citizens for Europe“ Initiative, held in Sarajevo, about promoting agriculture and rural development of BiH, on its path toward the EU.
EU Special Representative in BiH, Valentin Inzko, under whose auspices the initiative is being implemented, addressed the civil society and government representatives, emphasizing the need for the BiH Council of Ministers to be formed, so as to facilitate progress in the field of agriculture. „In the meantime, the civil society and elected authorities can cooperate, while parliamentarians and other officials can work on the new, or implement existing legislation“, Inzko added.
Sandra Memišević spoke on behalf of the BiH Directorate for European Integrations, reflecting on the corresponding recommendations of the civil society with those of the European partnership, to which BiH is committed. „Harmonising legislation is key in this process“, said Memišević, noting the need for BIH legislation to be harmonised with the EU regulations.
Member of the Initiative's working group on agriculture, Aleksandar Milanović, thanked the attending government representatives for their active participation in the discussion, thereby demonstrating their will to move the reform process forward jointly. He referred to the recommendations made by civil society to the decision makers, including, among other, the prioritised full harmonising and implementation of the BiH Law on agriculture, food and rural development, and better coordination between state, entities and Brčko District in this field. „BiH needs a rural development strategy at the state level“, Milanović said, emphasizing that all the implemented measures will, among other, lead to a greater financial support to the BiH agrarians.
During the discussion, representatives of the relevant Ministries at the state and entity levels supported the civil society's recommendations, and recognised that BiH has a backlog when it comes to allocations for agriculture and rural development, at less than 5%. At the same time the EU is allocating more than 40% to this sector. MVTEO representatives stated that this Ministry will soon form a Network for rural development with members of civil society, and that they will issue a public report on its work. They also informed that the Office for harmonization and coordination of the payment system will become operational in six months. MPs invited the Ministries to submit the citizens' document into the parliamentary procedure.
Initiative Citizens for Europe gathers 38 civil society organisations with a view to promote the process of BiH integration into the EU. The initiative is taking place under the auspices of the EUSR, with the financial support of SIDA, and in cooperation with DEI BiH.
