Honouring of obligations and commitments by Bosnia and Herzegovina
Reply
| Doc. 12074
| 27 October 2009
- Author(s):
- Committee of Ministers
- Origin
- adopted
at the 1068th meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies (20-21 October
2009) 2009 - November Standing Committee
- Reply to
- Recommendation 1843
(2008)
- Thesaurus
2. Concerning the expressed need to further develop the existing
co-operation programmes (points 2.2 and 2.3 of the recommendation),
the Committee of Ministers is determined to reinforce its assistance
activities in the key areas of the Council of Europe's expertise.
3. In this respect, the Committee of Ministers would like to
refer to a co-operation programming document which it has recently
approved and which lists the existing and proposed action of the
Council of Europe in Bosnia and Herzegovina for 2009-2011. The package
of priority action covered by the document includes areas of constitutional
reform, human rights (including strengthening the application of
the European Convention of Human Rights, the fight against ill-treatment
and freedom of expression), rule of law activities (such as prison
reform, fight against corruption and organised crime) and democracy
and good governance (including activities on electoral legislation
and civic participation). The document also includes action on education
reform and promoting social cohesion in the country.
4. The implementation of the above activities should contribute
to Bosnia and Herzegovina's fulfilment of commitment and obligations
undertaken by the country upon accession to the Council of Europe.
The Committee of Ministers considers it important that Bosnia and
Herzegovina makes better use of its membership in the Council of
Europe, notably by participating in the work of its specialised
committees and by submitting relevant legislative drafts to the
Council of Europe for review.
5. The Committee of Ministers concurs with the Assembly on the
need to make full use of the new funding opportunities, including
within the framework of the European Union's Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance.
In this context, the Council of Europe office in Sarajevo has close
co-operation with the European Commission. This co-operation should
be reinforced with the development of several new projects, including a
proposal for a large anti-corruption initiative, which is currently
being discussed with the authorities. The Committee of Ministers
would like to underline that a considerable amount of additional
funding for the proposed programmes is still required and would
therefore appreciate any support by member states and national delegations
of the Parliamentary Assembly to identify complementary funding
options.
