Donor Co-Financing Assessment for New Country Strategy
Annex 1 - Political Assessment in the Context of Article 1
European Bank
for Reconstruction and Development
Bosnia and Herzegovina's commitment to and application of the political principles stated in Article 1 of the Agreement Establishing the Bank has
continued since the adoption of the previous Country Strategy, although the intricacy of the country's constitutional setup adversely affects the
functioning of its democratically elected institutions, as well as civil and political rights of the citizens.
The constitutional and legislative framework for a pluralistic parliamentary democracy, the separation of powers and checks and balances in the
political system, the guarantees for fundamental rights and for the meaningful role of civil society are in place in B&H and are largely in line with
international and European standards. However, the functioning of the state in general, and of its democratically elected institutions in particular,
is affected by the specifics of the country's constitutional setup. The 1995 Dayton Accords, which ended the war in B&H and paved the way to the
country's stability, created a uniquely complex institutional structure and a fragmented policy-making apparatus. At the central level, decision-
making is based on a complex system of checks and balances, which were designed to protect the interests of the three 'constituent' peoples and
which de-facto encourage their representatives to demonstrate their commitment to their ethnic constituency rather than to the State. While there
is no consensus in sight between the country's ethnic leaders regarding the optimal internal organisation of B&H, without it further progress
towards a more efficient and democratic state may be difficult to achieve.
While political crises in B&H are frequent, 2021 saw a particularly deep crisis. Since July 2021, ethnic Serb representatives in the central
institutions have suspended their participation, triggered by the amendments to the Criminal Code, which had been imposed by the international
High Representative. At the end of 2021, the parliament of RS adopted a package of declarations and conclusions regarding the transfer of
competences from the central level to RS and RS's withdrawal, in particular, from the state-level army, judiciary bodies and the indirect tax
authority, authorising the government of RS to prepare respective bills within six months.
Many of weaknesses common to other Western Balkan countries - such as overall institutional weakness, relatively low capacity of public
administration, excessive politicisation and lack of meritocracy in the civil service, weak judiciary, and difficult business environment - have been
multiplied in B&H. This is one of the main reasons the country often ranks among the worst in the region in various ranking tables related to the
business environment.
The specifics of the constitutional set up also affect human rights. Some parts of the existing B&H legislation are not in compliance with
international standards, including the European Convention of Human Rights. In 2009, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) issued a
verdict to stop discrimination against ethnic minorities in B&H, whose representatives are prevented by law from running for the highest public
offices. This verdict of the ECHR has not been implemented yet. The Resolution of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on
B&H noted that this "hampers the completion of much needed reforms in key sectors, such as democratic institutions, the rule of law and human
rights". The European Parliament, in its resolution on B&H adopted in June 2021, deplored the fact that the country "remains in breach of the
European Convention of Human Rights by not complying with anti-discrimination rulings of the European Court of Human Rights cases on ensuring
the democratic equality of citizens in the country's election process" and called for the implementation of the rulings of the ECHR and the
Constitutional Court of B&H without further delay.²
1 Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Resolution 1855 on “The functioning of democratic institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina" (adopted
in Plenary on 9 January 2012)
PUBLIC
2 European Parliament resolution of 24 June 2021 on Bosnia and Herzegovina (P9 TA(2021)0317)
20View entire presentation