The draft PBS Law prepared by BiH Minister for Transport and Communications Branko Dokic will not satisfy the criteria laid out in the European Commission’s Feasibility Study, the High Representative and EU Special Representative, Paddy Ashdown, and the Head of the EC Delegation in BiH, Michael Humphreys, told BiH ministers today. The BiH representatives at the meeting, held at the Joint Institutions Building, were led by Chairman of the Council of Ministers Adnan Terzic and included BiH Communications Minister Branko Dokic, and Entity Communications Ministers, Dragan Solaja and Nedzad Brankovic.
The High Representative called on Prime Minister Terzic to make sure that the PBS law, amended in order to meet the required standards, is put on the CoM agenda for consideration before the end of next week.
“The draft legislation submitted by Minister Dokic does not respect the Agreement signed by the three Prime Ministers on 6 November 2003,” the High Representative said. “The EC has made clear that this draft legislation must fully respect the Prime Ministers’ Agreement if it is to have their support. Our recommendation is simple: amend this legislation to bring it fully into line with the Prime Ministers’ Agreement if you do not want to put this country’s European future at risk.”
Ambassador Humphreys reminded the meeting that PBS reform is one of the 16 specific priorities for action in the Feasibility Study. “The EC will assess progress on PBS reform before deciding whether to open SAA negotiations with BiH,” he said. “And I would like to confirm that we want to see the Prime Ministers’ Agreement respected in full. I call on you to bring the legislation into line with the Prime Ministers’ Agreement, and adopt it as soon as possible.”