Office of the High Representative inBosnia and Herzegovina (OHR)/ European Union Special Representative (EUSR) and the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina and take note of the Ministry of Civil Affairs’ submission of the Draft Law on Higher Education to the Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) Council of Ministers for consideration on 27 April 2006 .
This represents a first step in the right direction since the BiH Parliamentary Assembly failed to adopt a similar draft law in 2004.
The legislation is long overdue as Bosnia and Herzegovina signed and ratified the Bologna Declaration and the Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications Concerning Higher Education in the European Region in September 2003 and January 2004 respectively.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the few countries in Europe which has not yet adopted a new legal framework to implement the Bologna and Lisbon requirements. We therefore strongly urge the BiH Council of Ministers and the BiH Parliamentary Assembly to adopt this law as a matter of urgency.
The European Partnership with Bosnia and Herzegovina calls for the adoption of this law by June 2006.
The Higher Education Law will help to modernize education in this country and broaden educational, research and job opportunities for all citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
