The proposed amendments to the FBiH Civil Service Law, which the Federation Parliament is to consider tomorrow, could undermine the integrity, reliability and political neutrality of the civil service in the Federation, as already expressed by the European Commission. Given the importance of this issue, the amendments under consideration should not be rushed through the parliament under urgent procedure, but rather sufficient time and space should be given to ensure that any eventual changes increase the effectiveness and professionalism of the civil service.
The longstanding position of the OHR is that the Civil Service should be professional, efficient and politically neutral and that the recruitment of senior civil servants needs to be transparent and merit based. Efforts to achieve this are welcome.