Senior Deputy High Representative Ambassador Hanns Schumacher met today with Dr. Haris Silajdzic, Co-Chair of the Council of Ministers, and representatives of the Alternative Council of Ministers, to start discussing ways of restructuring the Council of Ministers after the elections.
“We are focussing on chairmanship, number of ministerial portfolios, state budget and cooperation with the entities”, noted Ambassador Schumacher. “The Office of the High Representative will continue to consult with the members of the CoM, the Alternative Council of Ministers and others with the aim to enforce the Council’s role as the most important decision-making body within the network of the common institutions. Many of the ideas developed by the Alternate Council of Ministers reflect our own concerns. We are both aiming at increasing efficiency and expertise of the Council – this should by no means interpreted as an attempt to undermine competencies of the entities, which certainly will remain untouched.”
Ambassador Schumacher will meet with other representatives of the Council of Ministers this week to solicit their views on how to improve the work of the Council. The Office of the High Representative will present its recommendations to the Chairs of the Council of Ministers after the election until the end of September.
“It will be the responsibility of the Council of Ministers to make the necessary amendments to the Law on the Council of Ministers and submit them to Parliament for adoption “, added Ambassador Schumacher.