annex iii ba 12 ib jh 01 final report...final report twinning contract number ba 12 ib jh 01...

FINAL REPORT Twinning Contract number BA 12 IB JH 01

Twinning Project ‘Enhancing the role of parliaments in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the EU integration context’

TWINNING FINAL REPORT

EUROPEAN COMMISSION

TWINNING PROJECT

FINAL REPORT

Project Title: Enhancing the role of parliaments in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the EU

integration context Partners: Hungarian National Assembly in consortium with the French National

Assembly, as Member State Partners Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Parliament of the

Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, National Assembly of Republika Srpska and Brčko District Assembly, as Beneficiary Partners

Date 26 May 2016

Twinning Contract number BA 12 IB JH 01



Contents

Section 1: Project data .......................................................................................................................... 3

Section 2: Content ................................................................................................................................. 4

2A – EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...................................................................................................... 4

2B – BACKGROUND ....................................................................................................................... 6

2C – IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS ........................................................................................ 13

Developments outside the project ............................................................................................................ 13

Project developments ............................................................................................................................... 17

Project visibility ....................................................................................................................................... 22

2D – ACHIEVEMENTS OF MANDATORY RESULTS ............................................................ 24

COMPONENT 0 ..................................................................................................................................... 25

COMPONENT 1 ..................................................................................................................................... 26

COMPONENT 2 ..................................................................................................................................... 30

COMPONENT 3 ..................................................................................................................................... 34

COMPONENT 4 ..................................................................................................................................... 38

COMPONENT 5 ..................................................................................................................................... 41

COMPONENT 6 ..................................................................................................................................... 45

COMPONENT 7 ..................................................................................................................................... 50

2E – IMPACT .................................................................................................................................. 53

2F – FOLLOW-UP AND SUSTAINABILITY ............................................................................. 56

2G – CONCLUSIONS .................................................................................................................... 58

2H – FINAL RECOMMENDATIONS.......................................................................................... 59

2I – ANNEXES ................................................................................................................................ 60

Annex 1: Overview of the mandatory results achieved ........................................................................... 60

Section 3: Expenditure ...................................................................................................................... 105

Annex 2: Expenditures .......................................................................................................................... 105



Section 1: Project data

Twinning Contract Number BA 12 IB JH 01

Project Title: Enhancing the role of parliaments in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the EU integration context

Twinning Partners (MS and BC)

Hungarian National Assembly in consortium with the French National Assembly (MS) Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, National Assembly of Republika Srpska and Brčko District Assembly (BC)

Duration of the project: 25 months 1st February 2014 – 29th February 2016

MS Project Leader Zoltán Horváth

BC Project Leader Omar Filipović



Section 2: Content

2A – EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Regarding the mandatory results achieved, further the complex constitutional and legal setup of the Beneficiary Country, the comprehensive tasks and the intensive implementation of the activities, the Project can be considered as a great success. All the activities were carried out and all the recommendations needed to achieve the mandatory results were elaborated as it was planned by the Twinning contract. The recommendations of the Project were discussed then adopted unanimously by the political leaderships of the Beneficiary Parliaments in form of Action Plans. Recommendations to enhance the role of Parliaments in the EU integration context In each of the project fields the work has been concluded with a package of final recommendations for concrete actions which were elaborated in close cooperation and agreement with the BiH Parliaments. The final recommendation reports contain detailed recommendations with explanations for all the four Parliaments in a customized manner. Several hundreds of recommendations are formulated directly to the individual Parliaments, nevertheless there are general recommendations as well. Final findings and recommendations were published in concluding manuals on the Project components. The final recommendation reports served as a basis for the elaboration and adoption of the four Action Plans to enhance the role of the four BiH Parliaments in the EU integration context and were also used to prepare the EU integration cooperation mechanism of the Parliaments. Action Plans to enhance the role of Parliaments Based on the detailed project recommendations, the BiH Parliaments decided in a Joint Statement adopted by the Collegiums of the State and Entity Parliaments and by the Assembly of Brčko District, that they implement the recommendations of the Twinning Project in customized Action Plans to enhance the role of Parliaments in the EU integration context. The Twinning Project elaborated and submitted the four Action Plans to each Parliament:

• Action Plan for the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina; • Action Plan for the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina; • Action Plan for the National Assembly of Republika Srpska; • Action Plan for the Brčko District Assembly.

At the end of the Twinning Project all four Action Plans were adopted in line with the agreement made among the Parliaments in the Joint Statement. The Action Plans intend to serve as a roadmap to guide and enhance the activities of the Parliaments in the coming period of the EU integration process. The Action Plans are composed of 250-300 concrete actions for each Parliament to improve, enhance and accelerate their activities. In case of each action the format, the responsible body and the deadline for implementation is defined. The feasibility of actions and the commitment of the BiH Parliaments related to their Action Plans is showed in the fact that some of the recommendations have been already started to be implemented. Cooperation mechanism of Parliaments in the EU integration The Action Plans provide the preparation framework for the BiH Parliaments on an individual basis. However, a successful parliamentary preparation for EU accession in Bosnia and Herzegovina requires that the Parliaments work together in some areas and coordinate their activities. Therefore, the Twinning Project elaborated the concept of the cooperation mechanism for



the BiH Parliaments in the tasks of the EU integration process, which was adopted by the political leaderships of the Parliaments at the end of the Project. The concept provides a system of informal cooperation between the Parliaments based on mutuality, common work and consensus agreements. According to the concept which was adopted and signed on 26 January 2016 on the Closing ceremony of the Project, the four main levels of the cooperation mechanism are: the Conference of Speakers, the Parliamentary Forum for EU Integration, the cooperation of sectoral committees, and the administrative cooperation for regular coordination of the EU activities. The adopted concept describes the role, the participants, the scope of activities and the regularity of the cooperation in case of each level. The partnership between MS and BC sides During the whole lifecycle of the Project the partnership among MS and BC sides worked smoothly, the mutual commitment was realized in form of close and efficient cooperation. The MS and BC project partners were looking for solutions which best serve the interests of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Therefore all the project proposals take into consideration the best practices of EU Member States and the political, constitutional and cultural traditions of the Beneficiary Country at the same time. It was very important that the MS implementing staff was in regular contact with both the political and administrative leaderships of the four BC Parliaments. The involvement of the top decision-makers and the functioning of such multilevel cooperation framework well facilitated the adoption of the project recommendations in the final phase of the Project. Overall evaluation From the perspective of the overall objective of the Twinning Project (‘To enhance the role of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the National Assembly of Republika Srpska and the Brčko District Assembly in the accession process of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the EU and the implementation of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement’) it is too early to make a final evaluation on the impact of the Project in detail, but the above two achievements and various further proofs introduced in this report validate the extensive success of the Twinning Project. In case of parliamentary twinnings it must be emphasized that for the implementation of most of the proposals political decisions are needed which can be done usually after finalisation of the project. However, in this Twinning Project the BiH Beneficiary Parliaments reacted in a very responsive and committed way to the Projects’ recommendations by delivering such political decision already in the lifetime of the project with the adoption of the Action Plans and the Cooperation mechanism. However, one has to be aware – and it is also reaffirmed in the Action Plans –, that in most of the cases of the several hundreds of listed actions the implementation of the proposals requires time: in order to implement the key project proposals usually longer period, in several cases years are needed. This timeframe, however, can still be suited to the rhythm of the accession process, therefore one can be trusting that the BiH Parliaments will be able to fully prepare themselves to EU accession on the basis of the project proposals especially if further EU assistance will be provided to the implementation. As a conclusion it can be stated that with the complete implementation of the project recommendations adopted in the 4 Action Plans, the BiH Parliaments would become capable to efficiently operate in the EU framework, assuming that additional crucial decisions will be taken on behalf of the executive branch and that the implementation of the recommendations will receive the necessary impetus from all side and all required resources will be mobilized. From this point of view the EU side will also have an important role to play in monitoring and supporting the implementation activities.



2B – BACKGROUND Starting points: Context of the project launching

The Project’s objective was to enhance the role of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the National Assembly of Republika Srpska and the Brčko District Assembly (hereinafter: the Parliaments) in the accession process of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the EU and the implementation of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement. The Project’s purpose was to strengthen the capacity of Members of Parliament and the administrations of the Parliaments in BiH for strategic guidance of the EU accession process, improve alignment of legislation with EU law and effective oversight functions and to enhance cooperation and coordination of the Parliaments of BIH in these processes. The project reflected the need for improvement of the functioning of the Parliaments: strengthening the capacity of the Parliaments for carrying out their role in the EU accession process contributes to the fulfilment of the objectives of the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) as it is outlined in the document, including ‘supporting efforts to strengthen democracy and the rule of law in Bosnia and Herzegovina, contributing to political, economic and institutional stability in BiH and the wider region; providing a framework for political dialogue, allowing for the development of close political relations between the EU and BiH, as well as supporting the development of economic cooperation and international cooperation in BiH, including through the approximation of its legislation to that of the Community’. The Action Plan for Implementation of the provisions of the Interim Agreement (IA) and the Stabilization and Association Agreement, adopted by the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina notes the establishment of the Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee: the political dialogue between BiH and EU will be strengthened through the establishment and functioning of this body set in Article 121 of the SAA as a forum for Members of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina and of the European Parliament to meet and exchange views, once the SAA enters into force. (The SAA entered into force during the Project’s lifetime, on 1 June 2015.) Strengthening the capacities of MPs and parliamentary staff (as a part of the civil service) is crucial for achieving the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) Multi-annual Indicative Planning Document’s (MIPD) 2011-2013 Public Administration Reform objective: ‘Support the alignment of the legislative framework with the European acquis in all accession relevant sectors, including, if appropriate, domestic efforts to amend the constitutional framework, and help creating an efficient, professional, merit-based, accountable and transparent civil service’. By installing mechanisms for participation of civil society in the parliamentary decision-making in the context of the EU-accession process, the project also had to contribute to ‘enabling civil society to participate in policy formulation and decision making processes’, as one of the MIPD indicators in the Public Administration Reform sector. The Action Plan for Implementation of the Priorities of the European Partnership 2008 adopted by the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina sets actions to be taken by the Parliaments of BiH. These include strengthening general administrative capacities (policy creation, quality of legislation, redistribution of capacities among institutions, specialisation, IT support to law drafting, etc.). In addition, improvement of checking compliance of legislation with the EU acquis, enhancing regulatory impact assessment, enhanced access to legislation (databases, consolidated



versions of laws, etc.) are planned. Measures to align human resources policies and to consolidate the definition and scope of the public administration were also envisaged. In line with the Strategy for Public Administration Reform adopted by the Council of Ministers and the two entities’ governments in 2005 aiming at development of general administrative capacity in the administration, through the reform of core horizontal systems and governance structures, the Parliaments of BiH adopted and implemented uniform rules for law drafting, which has been realised. The Parliaments of Bosnia and Herzegovina Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina (PABiH) is the state-level bicameral legislative body in Bosnia and Herzegovina, consisting of two chambers: the House of Representatives and the House of Peoples. The House of Representatives comprises 42 members elected by popular vote on the basis of proportional representation. The House of Peoples has 15 delegates, designated by the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s House of Peoples and the Republika Srpska's National Assembly. Term of office is 4 years. Legislative decisions enter into force upon adoption by both houses of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH. The PABiH enacts laws, approves the budget and makes decisions on the sources and the amount of revenue needed for financing the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina and its international obligations. The PABiH confirms the appointment of the Chair and Members of the BiH Council of Ministers, grants consent to ratification of international treaties and decides on other issues that are necessary to exercise its own responsibilities or those assigned to it by an agreement between entities. The chambers of the PABiH perform legislative, informative and oversight activities and regulate their internal structure and mode of operation. The legislative responsibilities of the PABiH cover the foreign policy; foreign trade policy; customs policy; monetary policy; finances of the institutions and international commitments of Bosnia and Herzegovina; immigration, refugee, and asylum policy and regulation; international and inter-entity criminal law enforcement; establishment and operation of common and international communications facilities; regulation of inter-entity transportation; and air traffic control. All functions and powers not expressly assigned to the institutions of BiH Constitution of BiH shall be those of the entities. The state level of government may assume responsibilities in other matters as agreed by the entities. The House of Representatives has 7 standing committees covering the responsibilities of the chamber. The House of Peoples has 3 standing committees. There are 6 joint standing committees established, among them the Joint Committee on European Integration. The legislative procedure is in two readings, both in the committees and in plenary. The procedure is regulated by separate rules of procedure of each of the Houses. Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (PFBiH) is the bicameral legislature body of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The House of Representatives is composed of 98 members elected by direct popular vote in secret ballot, while the House of Peoples is composed of 58 delegates, chosen by the respective cantonal



legislature. The House of Representatives has 26 working standing committees, the House of Peoples 19. The House of Representatives established a body responsible for European affairs, the Committee on European Integration. In the course of the Project, the House of Peoples also established the Committee on European Integration. The Houses have established two joint committees. The procedure is regulated by separate rules of procedure of each of the Houses. Each House has its own service, which is managed by a Secretary. Most of the staff is assigned to committees. National Assembly of Republika Srpska The National Assembly of Republika Srpska (NARS) is the legislative body of the Republika Srpska, functioning as unicameral body with 83 directly elected MPs with a term of office of four years. In the NARS there are 20 standing working bodies, two commissions and a Minority Council. The responsible body for European Affairs is the Committee for European Integration and Regional Cooperation. The procedure is regulated by the Assembly’s Rules of Procedure. The legislative procedure is conducted in two readings, both in the committees and in plenary. The NARS regularly receives opinions on EU-related laws by the Ministry of Economic Relations and Regional Cooperation of the Government of the Republic of Srpska. Statements of compliance (including those stating partial compliance with the acquis) for pieces of legislation are regularly submitted to the NARS. Public hearings have been introduced and practiced. The Assembly also publishes a call for interest for civil society organisations for participation in the work of the NARS. The NARS has enhanced its transparency through publishing the session documents and the decisions of the Assembly on the Internet, as well as publishing on-line its sessions. The Parliamentary Service is headed by the Secretary General. Brčko District Assembly Brčko District Assembly (BDA) is the parliamentary assembly of the self-governing administrative unit of Brčko District: it has 31 representatives – two belong to national minorities –, elected at direct elections, with a term of office of four years. The District, due to it specific status, has wide legislative responsibilities, comparable to Entities. In the District Assembly 17 standing committees are established: one of them is the Committee on European Integration, responsible for European matters. The Parliamentary Service is headed by the Chief of Service. It comprises around 35 staff, 7 of them assigned to substantial administrative matters. In general, a large number of the staff in the Parliaments of Bosnia and Herzegovina is assigned to the numerous working bodies, but their work is mainly confined to procedural and administrative tasks. IT personnel are generally scarce. All Parliaments are burdened with translations in local languages and English. Support to political groups is limited to administrative secretarial support. For supporting the continuous cooperation among the BiH Parliaments in EU integration process, a Parliamentary Forum for European Integration was established with the participation of the European integration committees of PABiH and the Entity Parliaments, and it is also planned that Brčko District Assembly’s responsible body joins to the Forum, too. Original shortcomings / problematic issues identified At the time of the preparation of the Project a good number of observations were reproduced in the following issues:



The Parliaments of Bosnia and Herzegovina played a limited role in the EU accession process of the country currently, and strongly relied on the respective governments in deliberating and making decisions on EU-related issues. The capacity of parliamentary administrations was underdeveloped in terms of providing adequate support to MPs, parliamentary committees and the chambers on EU-related issues. Nevertheless, capacities differed in the different Parliaments. According to the European Commission 2012 Progress Report: ‘There has been some progress in the functioning of the Parliamentary Assembly. A reorganisation of the Secretariat of the Parliamentary Assembly has been adopted, setting up two new sectors in the Secretariat. A general lack of political will continued to hamper the efficiency of the Parliamentary Assembly’s work. Temporary financing of State-level institutions held back the strengthening of the Parliamentary Assembly’s administrative capacity. At Entity level, the overall functioning of the Parliamentary Assemblies has continued to be satisfactory, with the EU Integration Committees focusing more on IA/SAA-related obligations. However, the political reshuffle in the Federation hampered the functioning of its Parliamentary Assembly.’ However it assessed that ‘Cooperation between the Entity Parliaments, the State-level Parliamentary Assembly and the State-level Council of Ministers regarding EU-related matters needs to improve in order to ensure coordinated and harmonised alignment with EU legislation throughout the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina. (...) The functioning of the Federation Parliamentary Assembly has been hampered by a lack of systematic coordination with other legislators in the Entity and by efforts to establish a new parliamentary majority. The work of the parliamentary committees was affected by frequent lack of quorum and inadequate premises.’ Strategic guidance of the Parliaments in BiH of the EU accession process, co-ordinated planning and monitoring of the process of approximation of legislation with the acquis – The creation and operation of specific committees for EU integration in the Parliaments were assessed as positive steps towards an enhanced role of Parliaments in the EU accession process. The role of Parliaments was especially important concerning strategic guidance of the EU accession process. However, a more substantial input of MPs in creating the EU accession agenda of the country was missing. Moreover, the initiative to create a forum for cooperation of the committees in charge of EU issues was seen as good common ground for improved cooperation and coordination of activities of the Parliaments in BiH. However, the mechanism for planning and monitoring of the work of Parliaments was not installed at the time of the project launching. Cooperation between the Entity Parliaments, the state-level Parliamentary Assembly and the state-level Council of Ministers regarding EU-related matters still needed to be improved in order to ensure coordinated and harmonised alignment with EU legislation throughout the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The working methods of the Parliamentary Stabilisation and Association Committee had to be established and support ensured. Oversight mechanisms of the EU accession process – A structured and regular monitoring mechanism of the EU integration process was lacking in all Parliaments, despite the commendable efforts of the specialized EU-committees. Oversight mechanisms in general had been improved in the Parliaments, especially concerning oversight of the budget and deliberation on audit reports. Oversight of independent and regulatory bodies, most of which were established and highly significant in the framework of the EU integration process and implementation of the EU acquis had to be strengthened: at the time being the number and regularity of reports on the progress of the EU accession process submitted by governments and deliberated by specialized EU committees and responsible committees was very limited, just like the number of annual reports submitted by supervisory and regulatory bodies debated in responsible committees and in the plenary.



Nonetheless, the Parliaments in BiH established practices for oversight of compliance with EU law, which exclusively relied on the assessment of the respective governments on the level of compliance. The Directorate for European Integration at state level has provided opinions on the level of alignment of laws to the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH. Opinions on compliance to the National Assembly of Republika Srpska have been provided by the Entity’s Ministry for European Integration and Regional Cooperation. However the Parliamentary Assembly lacked the capacity to review compliance of the amendments that are submitted during the legislative procedure with the EU law. Participation of civil society organizations in EU-related activities of Parliaments and increased visibility of the Parliaments in the EU accession process – The work of the Parliaments was not always visible for the citizens, especially not from the aspect of the European integration despite that a very important responsibility of a national parliament is to communicate the benchmarks and achievements on the way of European integration. As being the centre of internal politics, it is inevitable that the Parliaments provide information that reaches the whole society, including the voters of all parliamentary parties possibly with a better result than other methods of state-generated communication. Therefore it was required to set up a separate strategy concentrating on the communication of European integration-related events and happenings. Furthermore, the modest interactions between the civil society organizations and the Parliaments as institution had to be improved with targeted communication activities with non-governmental organizations as key elements in the chain of communication between citizens and institutions. Cooperation and coordination among the Parliaments in BiH on EU-related issues – Lack of mutual information and cooperation on the legislative programs of the Parliaments (adopted on the basis of the respective rules of procedure of each parliamentary assembly) mirrored the situation at government level. The production of legislation at different governance levels, according to the complex distribution of competences, along with overlapping, results in difficult access to adopted legislation for citizens and businesses. The SAA foresees that approximation with EU acquis should be implemented on the basis of a Programme of Integration agreed between the European Commission and Bosnia and Herzegovina. In addition, the manner of monitoring of its implementation is to be agreed between the Commission and BiH. Such Programme and a respective coordination structure for its implementation have been discussed, key documents prepared but due to the lack of political agreement BiH was still without coordination mechanism at the time of the project launching, and without Programme of Integration. Who does what and when regarding EU legislation was still not defined. It is expected that the Programme presents a basis for the annual plans of executive and legislative bodies in BiH. In order to fulfil this role, it is vital that the Parliaments are involved in the design of the Programme and that adequate monitoring mechanisms of its implementation in all the Parliaments are established and implemented. Capacity of MPs and parliamentary staff for EU-related issues – The capacity of the other working committees regarding the EU accession process was limited and there is a need for more active involvement of the competent committees in deliberation on EU-related issues within their remit. Constitutional and legislative committees also have an important role to play in the EU integration process as according to their Terms of References, these committees are in charge of the consistency of laws with the Constitution and the legal system. Management of parliamentary resources – Parliaments and their administrations had to be more consistently involved in the Public Administration Reform process. The process of strategic planning in the Parliaments of BiH is being developed – some parliaments have advanced in the process, while others have just initiated it. The management of the Parliaments’ resources had to be improved in order to enhance their overall capacities. While a number of training programmes for



parliamentary staff have been implemented, the need for specialized training in EU matters both for staff and MPs was high. It was of utmost importance that trainings are embedded in an established human resources policy for parliamentary staff. Objectives Overall objective The overall objective was to enhance the role of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the National Assembly of Republika Srpska and the Brčko District Assembly in the accession process of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the EU and the implementation of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement. Project purpose The Project’s purpose was to strengthen the capacity of Members of Parliament and parliamentary administrations of the Parliaments in BiH for strategic guidance of the EU accession process, improved alignment of legislation with EU law and effective oversight functions and to enhance cooperation and coordination of the Parliaments of BIH in these processes. Project’s composition The project was composed of seven Components: Component 1, Strengthening capacities for strategic guidance of the EU accession process and dialogue with the European Parliament Component 2, Enhancing the mechanisms and capacity for legislative alignment Component 3, Enhancing the mechanism for oversight of the government, of supervisory and regulatory bodies and improving cooperation with government on the EU accession process Component 4, Increasing participation of civil society and visibility of the role of Parliaments in the EU accession process Component 5, Developing regular cooperation and coordination among the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Parliament of Republika Srpska, Parliament of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Brčko District Assembly on EU-related issues Component 6, Raising capacity of MPs and parliamentary staff Component 7, Raising capacity of MPs and parliamentary staff Mandatory results Results to be achieved (as in Logframe) Result 1 • Mechanism for planning and monitoring of the EU integration related work of Parliaments for

EU integration is installed and functioning. • Parliaments are knowledgeable with European practices on the role of Parliaments in the EU

and the accession process. • Regular consultation mechanism with EU coordinating structure (when established) is installed

and functioning (alternative: participation of representatives of parliamentary assemblies in the EU coordinating structure is ensured).

• Working methods of Parliamentary Stabilisation and Association Committee established and support ensured.

Result 2 • Terms of References (ToRs) of parliamentary working bodies are mapped in terms of

responsibility of parliamentary working bodies for approximation with the acquis and implementation of the SAA/IA



• More efficient legislative techniques are introduced to the relevant BC authorities compared to baseline based on new or modified procedures and/or techniques.

• Better functioning approximation mechanisms are tested and introduced compared to baseline, based on new or modified procedures and/or techniques.

• Guidelines for the enhancement of the e-tools supporting the legislation are elaborated. • Parliaments are more familiar with European practices of legal approximation process. • Well-functioning mechanism of information sharing with Council of Ministers/Governments of

the approximation and legislative procedures for alignment with the acquis designed. Result 3 • More effective oversight mechanisms vis-à-vis Governments are introduced compared to

baseline. • More effective oversight mechanisms related to supervisory and regulatory bodies are

introduced compared to baseline. • Parliaments are more familiar with European standards in oversight activities. • Research capabilities of the administrative staff are strengthened compared to baseline based on

new or modified procedures and methods. Result 4 • Parliamentary EU integration communication strategy adopted and implementation started. • Mechanisms for civil society organisations (CSOs) participation in Parliament’s activities

related to the EU accession process established and practiced. • Parliaments are knowledgeable regarding the parliamentary communication activities and

involvement of CSOs into parliamentary work. • Mechanism for sharing of information among Parliaments aiming at an electronic EU-resource

centre is elaborated. Result 5

• Specific fora for the key areas of the acquis are established with participation of responsible committees and parliamentary administration departments.

• The activities of the Forum of EU integration committees are enhanced. • Mechanism of regular consultation and coordination for agreement by parliamentary chairs and

heads of parliamentary administrations on priorities related to EU-integration elaborated. • Staff and MPs of the Parliaments knowledgeable about the operation of the European Union

and the role of national parliaments and their committees in the accession and so capable of providing more technical input in EU-related parliamentary work.

Result 6 • A training plan for Parliaments and specific training plans for each Parliament are designed on

the basis of performed training needs assessment. • Generic (basic and advanced) EU training modules and specific training modules for areas of

acquis are delivered. • Training activities evaluated and future training activities proposed. Result 7

• Recommendations for developing sound human resources management policies provided. • Trainings incorporated in human resources policies. • Strategic plans for EU integration adopted for each parliament. • Guidelines for improving parliamentary budget management issued and implemented.



2C – IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS Developments outside the project EU – Bosnia and Herzegovina relations Just right after the Project’s launch, citizens’ protests of 7 February 2014 placed BiH into the focus of the political agenda of the European Union. In the light of the protests and overall political situation, the lack of progress BiH is making on its EU path has regained prominence in the local media.

Visits of a number of high-profile EU and Member States’ officials gave way for a certain degree of discussion on the possible new approach of EU towards BiH.

The Foreign Affairs Council adopted a set of conclusions on Bosnia and Herzegovina on 14 April 2014. In the conclusions, the Council recalled its serious concern that the EU integration process in BiH had stalled. The conclusions of 14 April indicated that the EU was setting stage for a revised approach to BiH, one which would include a focus on economic and social issues, rather than on difficult political issues.

Bosnia and Herzegovina was hit by severe floods in May 2014, which caused enormous material damage and loss of human life. EU-BiH relations were chiefly dominated by the issues of immediate relief for flood victims and the currently on-going reconstruction efforts.

The Progress Report on Bosnia and Herzegovina, part of the 2014 Enlargement Package, was adopted by the European Commission on 8 October 2014. The Commission concluded that Bosnia and Herzegovina had made very limited progress in addressing the political criteria for EU accession process. BiH had not overcome the stalemate in the European integration process while most other countries in the region are moving ahead decisively. When it came specifically to the state of affairs in the legislative bodies of the country it was noted that the legislative activities had been seriously hampered by political disagreements and the uncertainties of coalition building at State and Entity levels. In the framework of the Sixth Aspen Southeast Europe Foreign Ministers’ Conference in Berlin, UK Foreign Minister Philip Hammond and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier presented a proposal on the revival and acceleration of the integration process of BiH with the EU. Firstly, they called upon BiH politicians to intensify work on the establishment of functional governments and parliamentary majorities at all levels in the country following the official publication of election results. Secondly, they asked the new authorities in BiH to sign a written statement committing to the implementation of significant structural, socio-economic and institutional reforms that would make the country more functional and efficient. Also they requested the political leaders of the country to agree on a road map for a broad reform plan in all other areas, which would facilitate faster progress of BiH towards the EU. In return, they will insist that the EU institutions put on hold for a while requests for difficult political reforms such as implementation of Sejdić-Finci judgement.

EU Foreign Affairs Council at the meeting on 20 October 2014 adopted conclusions welcoming the orderly conduct of the election which took place in BiH on 12 October, and underlining the importance of swift government formation. The Council recalled its Conclusions of April 2014 and reiterated its call for the leadership of Bosnia and Herzegovina to engage immediately on a broader set of issues in order to address the challenges that the country faces as it progresses towards the EU.



On 15 December, the Foreign Affairs Council adopted a set of conclusions, which included support for the reinvented approach towards Bosnia and Herzegovina, based both on the British-German initiative and results of the ‘Compact for Growth,’ which is being implemented by the European Commission and the EU Delegation/EUSR in BiH. Basically the new approach signified re-sequencing of the order in which the conditionality is faced. It also required a clear commitment and the engagement of the BiH leadership, and of the population to reforms, starting from economic and social reforms, but then also tackling the functionality of the State and all the different levels of the authorities. The Council also noted that the establishment of an effective coordination mechanism on EU issues would improve the country’s interaction with the EU, including with respect to IPA funding. Progress in this regard would open the way for Bosnia and Herzegovina to benefit fully from the funding available.

Following the adoption of the Council conclusions, the BiH Presidency, on 29 January 2015, agreed on and adopted the Written Commitment expressing a clear commitment towards structural political and socio-economic reforms necessary for accelerated path of BiH towards the European Union. The Written Commitment emphasises the need for all BiH institutions at all levels to undertake necessary reforms that will ensure institutional efficiency. Additionally, the Presidency has committed to establishment of a functioning coordination mechanism in EU matters.

The session of March 2015 the Foreign Affairs Council had welcomed the adoption of the Written Commitment by BiH Presidency, its signature by leaders of political parties and subsequent endorsement in the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Additionally, the Council noted that the necessary conditions contained therein have been met and gave green light to proceed with the conclusion and entry into force of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement with Bosnia and Herzegovina. Subsequently, the Council adopted on 21 April a decision concluding the Stabilisation and Association Agreement with Bosnia and Herzegovina.

On 1 June 2015 the Stabilisation and Association agreement between Bosnia and Herzegovina and the EU entered into force. The SAA established a close partnership between the EU and BiH and deepened the political, economic and trade ties between the two parties. It is now the main framework for the relations between the EU and BiH, further preparing the country for future EU membership, specifically upgrading the EU-BiH relations through the establishment of a dedicated institutional framework: SAA Council, SAA Committee as well as sectoral Sub-Committees; and an SAA Parliamentary Committee between the European Parliament and PABiH.

The first meeting of the Joint Parliamentary Committee for Stabilisation and Association (SAPC) took place in Sarajevo in early November 2015. The primary aim of the meeting was to discuss and adopt the Rules of Procedure of the SAPC. Unfortunately, the session did not result in adoption of the Rules of Procedure due to requests coming from a number of BiH MPs to include special voting rules into the SAPC’s Rules of Procedure, which would reflect the qualified majority decision-making as it is employed in the BiH’s Joint Committee for European Integration. It was decided to continue consultations in this matter and re-convene the SAPC once there is political consensus on the issue. 2015 Enlargement package was published by the European Commission on 10 November 2015, covering the Western Balkans and Turkey. The Report for BiH, inter alia, concluded that BiH is back on the reform track and has started to address the outstanding priorities on its EU accession path as demonstrated through the adoption of the Reform Agenda in July. At the Closing Event of the Project, on 26 January 2016, the Speakers and Deputy Speakers of the 4 BiH Parliaments signed the Concept on the cooperation mechanism for Parliaments of BiH in the tasks of the EU integration process.

The same day, hours after signing the parliamentary cooperation mechanism, the BiH Council of Ministers adopted the (executive side) Decision on Coordination System in the Process of European Integration in Bosnia and Herzegovina.



On 15 February 2016 Chairman of the BiH Presidency submitted the candidate application of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the European Union.

Political situation

Right in the first week of the Project, the political situation became complicated, largely marked by the protests of citizens that took place on 7 February 2014, turning violent in several cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The protests of unemployed workers, dissatisfied with their social-economic position, have started in Tuzla several days earlier, then spread to Zenica, Bihać and Sarajevo. The protests had far-reaching consequences. Governments of Sarajevo, Zenica, Tuzla and Bihać cantons resigned. Citizens participating in the protests organised themselves in the so-called ‘Plenums of Citizens’ that provided forum for discussion and presentation of their requests to the authorities. The protests caused serious political turbulences in the country. Different political parties started accusing each other for organising the violent protests.

A blockade of the House of Peoples of the PABiH lasted for almost two months at the very beginning of the project implementation. Dispute broke out around the adoption of the Law on Residence, which is deemed unacceptable by SDA delegates in this House.

Following May 2015, the political situation was mostly determined by the extensive flooding, which is generally considered the most severe natural disaster that has hit Bosnia and Herzegovina in the past 100 years. Estimated 1.5 million citizens were directly affected by floods, especially in the areas of central and north-eastern Bosnia, Posavina and Semberija. Chairman of the CoM BiH stated that material damage roughly equals to 15% of GDP.

The aftermath of the floods was marked by strong political arguments. Political parties from the opposition were blaming the government for lack of effective and timely response to the disaster. Due to political disagreement at the state-level institutions, the CoM did not declare a country-wide state of emergency. Therefore, assistance and relief efforts, as well as the reconstruction process were mainly conducted at entity level.

On 16 May 2014 the Central Election Commission of BiH issued a call for the general elections to be held on 12 October 2014. The elections were held in the foreseen date, encompassing six different contests for positions in various institutions of BiH: Presidency, House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, House of Representatives of the Parliament of the Federation of BiH, National Assembly of Republika Srpska, President and vice-presidents of Republika Srpska, and cantonal assemblies.

The Central Election Commission published final and confirmed results on 7 November 2014. The overall winner of the general elections was the Party of Democratic Action (SDA). They were followed by the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD); the Croat Democratic Union-led coalition (HDZ); the Democratic Front (DF); the Alliance for Change; and the Alliance for Better Future (SBB).

Intensive negotiations on possible coalitions were initiated following the publication of election results and continued in the following months, too. The inaugural session of the House of Representatives of PABiH took place within the legal deadline, on 9 December 2014, however the House of Peoples of PABiH was inaugurated more than a month later, on 29 January 2015. At the Federation level, SDA has signed a coalition agreement with HDZ and Democratic Front, which enabled these three parties to create clear parliamentary majorities in the PFBiH and in many of the cantonal assemblies. The House of Peoples in PFBiH was constituted on 16 January 2015, due to the process of indirect election of delegates from the 10 cantonal assemblies. SNSD with their coalition partners DNS and SP had enough MPs to form a clear parliamentary majority in the NARS. Therefore, NARS was constituted on 24 November 2014.



The FBiH Government was appointed by the PFBiH House of Representatives only on 31 March 2015. On the same day, 31 March, the state-level Council of Ministers was appointed by the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH. Several important political parties in BiH have held their party congresses in the aftermath of the general elections. On 25 April, SNSD, SBB and HDZ BiH held their general and election congresses.

During its party congress, SNSD adopted a Declaration named ‘Republika Srpska – free and independent future and responsibility,’ which states the RS had through Dayton peace talks introduced its territory and sovereignty into newly-formed BiH, which was an international legalisation of the results of the war in BiH. The Declaration is concluded by saying that the legal system of RS is in line with the Dayton Agreement, which provides for legal and legitimate demonstration of people’s aspiration at a referendum regarding the undetermined status of RS and of the BiH Constitution. Therefore, the Declaration says, in case no visible progress is undertaken to reinforce position of Republika Srpska pursuant to Annex 4 of the Dayton Peace Agreement by 2017, National Assembly of Republika Srpska shall declare referendum on independent status of RS in 2018. Commenting on SNSD’s Declaration both, EU Delegation to BiH and the European Parliament sharply underlined that the EU membership offer is exclusively open to Bosnia and Herzegovina as territorially united and sovereign country, and not otherwise. Also, the EU stressed that the BiH Presidency Declaration, which was signed by all political party leaders, including SNSD, is unequivocally founded on the presumption of independence and sovereignty of BiH. Early June 2015 political crisis broke out when the ministers in the FBiH Government from Democratic Front fiercely opposed changes to the Government’s Decision on Appointment of Managerial Structures in Public Companies, and their ministers submitted their resignation letters to the FBiH President on 12 June 2015. On the same day DF leader Mr Komsić has declared end of the ruling coalition in the Federation. Practically, the coalition broke down and there was no parliamentary majority in the Federation of BiH, since the Prime Minister no longer had the support of DF. This crisis of the parliamentary majority in the PFBiH was finally resolved on 28 October 2015 when new ministers were appointed to the Federation Government from SBB. The change of the coalition has also been reflected on the leadership of the FBiH House of Representatives.

Another important political issue in the country was the drafting and adoption of measures for economic and financial reforms named the Reform Agenda. The Reform Agenda was drafted at levels of the state Council of Ministers and the two entity governments and is a practical follow up to the British-German initiative and Written Commitment of the BiH Presidency. The Reform Agenda includes a number of economic measures that were initially developed and proposed within the framework of the EU-sponsored ‘Compact for Growth and Jobs.’

On 11 July 2015, Bosnia and Herzegovina and the international community have commemorated 20th anniversary of the Srebrenica Genocide. A number of events were organised across the country and Europe.

On its session of 30 September 2015, the House of Peoples of the PFBiH established a new Committee on European Integration. Until that moment, PFBiH had only one Committee on European Integration established in the House of Representatives. The new committee in the House of Peoples is composed of five members and is the same as the composition of the Collegium of the House.

In September 2015, NARS has adopted a decision to hold a referendum on the legitimacy of competences of the state-level judiciary institutions in the territory of Republika Srpska. In a joint statement, a number of representatives of the international community led by the Head of the EU Delegation to BiH have expressed their ‘grave concerns’ regarding the announcement of the Referendum on judiciary in RS. The statement was concluded by saying that the proposed



Referendum could represent an unconstitutional path toward destabilisation and undermining of the established institution which would threaten the stability and sovereignty of the country.

On 20 October, the 11th Special Session of the NARS was held on the topic of protection of the constitutional position of RS and protection of its interest in the state-level BiH institutions. Most of the RS representatives in the BiH Council of Ministers and BiH Parliamentary Assembly, also took part in this session. The debate was long and often very heated exchange of views occurred between the government and opposition parties. The session resulted with adoption of a set of conclusions, which were not supported by the opposition since their MPs left the session prior to the voting.

Months of November and December of 2015 in Bosnia and Herzegovina were marked by many different occasions commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Dayton Agreement that ended the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. On the evening of 18 November a gunman shot two soldiers dead in the vicinity of army barracks in Sarajevo suburb of Rajlovac. Armed with an automatic rifle, the assailant went on a shooting spree in the Sarajevo suburb. Following the attack, Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Denis Zvizdić has ordered security to be raised to the highest level across the country. He, and other high-ranking officials, described the incident as ‘an attack on the state.’ The prosecutor's office said the incident was being investigated as an act of terrorism. On 10 December 2015 Republika Srpska Government halted all cooperation with the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) and the state prosecution after they arrested five persons for alleged war crimes in Bosanski Novi and searched the local police buildings in the town for evidence. The RS Government issued a statement saying that this action represents a serious violation of the agreement with the state-level authorities on police cooperation and an unconstitutional act. Already on 13 December 2015, state-level Minister of Security and Director of SIPA met with the representatives of RS police and Ministry of Interior. The meeting was dedicated to solving the issue of cooperation of police forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the light of Bosanski Novi raid. Both sides agreed on the necessity to improve and further define the details of police cooperation between the state-level and entity-level police agencies in BiH. Both Houses of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH voted on 10 December 2015 to remove Democratic Front (DF) ministers from the Council of Ministers of BiH (CoM). Their vacant positions were filled by the members of SBB, the new coalition partner which now forms the parliamentary majority in the PABiH together with SDA, HDZ BiH and Alliance for Change from RS. Project developments Methods of achievement of the mandatory results

The Project was implemented in seven components: Component 1 objective was to set up resources and mechanisms which are inevitable preconditions for a successful integration. This Component focused on four different issues to achieve this objective: 1. It analysed the needs of MPs playing key role in leading the EU accession related activities; 2. It targeted the strengthening of the knowledge and skills at the administrations of the Parliaments of BiH in EU accession related activities and proposed with concrete methodology and description of competences the setting up of EU units in the Parliaments; 3. It served to introduce



better planning mechanisms for the EU-related work of the Parliaments; and 4. It intended to maximize the opportunities which lie in the cooperation with the European Parliament in the Stabilization and Association Parliamentary Committee. Component 2 focused on the legislative process of the Parliaments and the law approximation of the national regulations with the EU acquis. The activities targeted the improvement of the practice of legislation which is a precondition of the development of successful law approximation processes with the EU acquis and the implementation of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement. The Component concentrated on the duties and responsibilities of the different parliamentary bodies, as well as the working methods and mechanisms to improve the legislation in general and ensure a sustainable EU law approximation system. In addition it provided recommendations for improving the IT support of the legislative process. Component 3, the governments and supervisory and regulatory bodies play a crucial role in the course of the whole EU integration process since they are responsible for the development of the related preparation and implementation of the plans and policies and also for coordination of the law approximation process. Therefore the Component’s activities focused on the strengthening of the oversight function of parliaments at the level of plenary session and committees to achieve a structured and regular monitoring mechanism. Since the oversight activities of a parliament are largely dependent on its research capacities, the Component also focused on strengthening the parliamentary research functions, as a key background support instrument for effective oversight. Component 4 aimed to increase the visibility of the Parliaments in general but especially in the EU accession process. To achieve this aim a concept of an EU communication strategy was elaborated with recommendations to EU Communication Action Plans for the Parliaments. Methodology to improve the involvement and information of the civil society related to the legislative process and the EU related activities was also presented. Content of an electronic EU resource centre for the 4 BiH Parliaments together with proposal for the establishment of an EU-related parliamentary website was also elaborated. Component 5 objective was to establish a functioning cooperation and coordination mechanism among the Parliaments of BiH on EU-related issues. As a result a four level cooperation concept was elaborated: 1. to install regular cooperation among Speakers and Deputy Speakers of the BiH Parliaments; 2. to revitalize and strengthen the functioning of the Forum of EU integration committees; 3. to set up fora of parliamentary committees on different EU policies (key areas for EU approximation tasks) with regular information-sharing and coordination activities; 4. to establish regular consultation and cooperation framework for the parliamentary administration. In addition, the Component aimed to deepen the knowledge of Parliaments on the roles and duties of European Integration Committees, other standing committees and working bodies in the European integration process. Component 6, raising capacity of MPs and parliamentary staff were in focus in order to enhance the general knowledge and also specific skills for better performance in all levels of parliamentary work. MPs had been supported by the possibilities of series of consultations on fields that could enrich their wide scope of capacities. Staff benefited from trainings to get to know various European practices in their respective policy fields which they are engaged in, and then to broaden their general knowledge on EU, which is more and more needed on the path of EU integration. Component 7, strategic planning of internal resources should be the basis for a successful resource management in the Parliaments of BiH. To achieve this aim, the Component focused on two fields: 1. It presented recommendations for a modern parliamentary human resources management policy and 2. It elaborated the framework to establish budgetary autonomy and independence for all the



BiH Parliaments with the necessary improvements of the procedures to adopt and manage their budget more effectively. Methodology Each component was further divided into sub-components focusing on concrete professional fields of parliamentary activities.

The implementation followed a consequent and systematic methodology of successive activities: each sub-component began with situation assessment, then followed by the elaboration of guidelines containing the indications and general features of possible improvements and suggested developments. The completed guidelines served as the basis for exchange of opinions and discussions with the BiH Parliaments in the form of roundtables held with the representatives – both from the political side and the administrative staff members – of each Beneficiary Parliament. Building on the guidelines and on the opinions, comments and suggestions from the four BiH Parliaments, the twinning experts formulated conclusions and concrete proposals in the form of recommendations, final guidelines, plans or manuals for the enhancement of the institutional capacities and the operational efficiency of the Parliaments. At the end of each activity, an expert report was written to explain and compose the results of the given stage of the process. All reports were translated into local languages according to an equal rotation system and were presented to all Beneficiary Parliaments. The above activities were interlinked with an extensive training programme: the Project implemented a complex training programme with more than 40 seminars and workshops. These events were organized for all four Parliaments in two locations, in Sarajevo and in Banja Luka, while some special training sessions were also organized in Brčko. During the training sessions EU Member States experts’ presentations were followed by interactive question and answer sessions and intensive consultations.

Besides the presentations at the training events the twinning experts always accomplished a training manual by the end of their mission. The training manuals are meant to fulfil the purpose of a long-term learning tool on the subject matter both for those who took part at the seminars and workshops and also for those who could not attend the training sessions in person. As a final result a compiled training manual of more than 700 pages was presented to the BiH Parliaments serving as a textbook on EU standard parliamentary functioning which can be used by current and future MPs and staff as a reference tool.

Besides training in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Twinning Project also offered opportunities for MPs and staff members to have insights into the operations of several parliaments in EU countries by organizing study visits to seven EU Member States and one to EU institutions and in addition internship programmes to two Member States.

Milestones of the project implementation A crucial fact which was considered in the phase of the planning of the project implementation was the date of the general elections, taking place on 12 October 2014. Following the October 2014 elections – as assumed in advance –, it took several months that the State- and Entity-level Parliaments were re-established in their new compositions, and further ones that the formation of the parliamentary committees was completed. For that reason, the Project conducted between February and December 2014 mostly those activities which ensured the thorough understanding of the existing state of affairs in the Parliaments, i.e. mainly assessment and guidelines activities, further training activities which required the participation only of the staff members of the Beneficiary institutions.



By early 2015, starting the 2nd half of the project, the implementation focused more on the activities which assumed the involvement of the elected representatives and of the political leaderships of the Beneficiary Institutions. On the roundtables not only the staff, but also MPs, committee chairmen and collegium members (representatives of the 3-member parliamentary presidency) were asked for their insights and suggestions on the matter of subject. Likewise, at the recommendations type activities the political representatives were consulted again. Predominantly, the activities of Component 5 Developing regular cooperation and coordination among the Beneficiary Parliaments on EU-related issues were implemented in the after-elections period since the (primarily political) cooperation among the Beneficiary Parliaments in the field of European integration assumes continuous commitment of a stable parliamentary leadership. The above factors were combined with another deliberation: the components covering the activities which could be considered core activities of a parliament in the process of European integration might be implemented sooner, taking into regard that those ensured also a comprehensive understanding of the Beneficiary Parliaments’ situation and working methods. In this way, relatively more activities were implemented in the first half of the Project in Component 1 Strengthening capacities for strategic guidance of the EU accession process and dialogue with the European Parliament, Component 2 Enhancing the mechanisms and capacity for legislative alignment and Component 3 Enhancing the mechanism for oversight of the government. Consequently, those components which presupposed a deep familiarity with the structures and the internal working methods of the Beneficiary Institutions, were scheduled in the second half of the Project such as the activities of Component 4 Increasing participation of civil society and visibility of the role of Parliaments in the EU accession process and Component 7 Improving internal resources management.

In view of the general elections scheduled for the time when the Project was just halfway through its duration, there was a timely opportunity given for the Project to inform the newly elected parliamentary leaders on the Project’s mid-term results and to involve them as highest sponsors on the issues demanding political guidance and decisions.

First, the Project Team held consultations in all the 4 Beneficiary Parliaments with the Members of Parliaments on the achieved project results in the course of February 2015. In March 2015, in Međugorje a mid-term conference on project results with Secretaries General was organized, which was directly followed by the mid-term conference with political leaders of the BiH Parliaments. 13 out of the 14 Speakers and Deputy Speakers of the 4 Beneficiary Parliaments participated on this conference, and gave momentum and guidance on the implementation framework (which took later the form of parliamentary Action Plans) of the Twinning Project’s recommendations, the coordination framework in EU-issues among BiH Parliaments and the further work in the Project’s second half. In November 2015 another conference was organized in Bijeljina: the Conference on cooperation in and implementation of actions to enhance the role of Parliaments in the EU integration process with participation of the Speakers, Deputy Speakers, EU Committee Chairs and Secretaries of the Beneficiary Parliaments. The aim of this meeting was very similar to the Međugorje event, but it was organized just before the last phase of the project. It served as a direct tool to facilitate the essential understanding of the implementation of the recommendations of the Twinning Project and to promote the implementation framework (adoption of parliamentary Action Plans based on the project recommendations) to the political leadership of all Beneficiary Parliaments in order to facilitate that they dispose of an overall understanding of the core recommendations and what would be needed for their implementation.

The conference was dominated by the three main agenda points: discussion on a Joint Statement and the Action Plans, discussion on the text of a Concept on the cooperation mechanism for Parliaments of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the tasks of the EU integration process, and discussion and adoption of the Conclusions of the Conference.



In Bijeljina the political leaders of the BiH Parliaments finally agreed on the text of the “Joint Statement on the commitment of the Parliaments of Bosnia and Herzegovina towards the EU integration by taking measures to implement the recommendations of the EU funded Twinning Project for enhancing the role of parliaments”. They also committed themselves to propose the Joint Statement together with the Action Plans at the next sessions of the Collegiums of their Houses, in case of Brčko District Assembly, to the plenary. The text of the Concept on the cooperation mechanism was also discussed by the political leaders and it was decided that the final text shall be harmonised by the Secretaries and adopted by the Speakers/Deputy Speakers at the Closing Event of the Project.

This conference yielded significant results. It ended with the political leaders signing the Conference Conclusions in which they expressed their commitment regarding the adoption of the Action Plans in their respective Parliaments, and showed determination to adopt and sign the Concept on the cooperation mechanism at the final event of the Twinning project.

This written commitment marked an important milestone also in the cooperation of the Parliaments of BiH, since this was the first document unanimously adopted and signed in written form, confirming similar undertakings on behalf of all 4 Parliaments and deciding on joint actions. During December 2015 all Houses of the Beneficiary Parliaments discussed and adopted the Joint Statement with the Action Plan at the sessions of their Collegiums, in case of Brčko District Assembly, at the plenary. This was a practical demonstration of the commitment the political leaders took upon themselves in Bijeljina. A third high level conference, the concluding conference on project results with Secretaries of the BiH Parliaments was implemented by the Project in January 2016 in Vlašić. This conference was chiefly dedicated to the finalisation of the text of the Concept on the cooperation mechanism for Parliaments of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the tasks of the EU integration process. Following a discussion, the Secretaries agreed on the text of the Concept on the cooperation mechanism to be proposed for final adoption by the Speakers/Deputy Speakers at the Closing Event of the project. The Closing Event of the project took place on 26 January 2016: it was the occasion when Speakers and Deputy Speakers of the Beneficiary Parliaments signed the Concept on the cooperation mechanism for Parliaments of BiH in the tasks of the EU integration process. Two related developments has to be pointed out: on the same day, hours after signing the parliamentary cooperation mechanism, the BiH Council of Ministers adopted the (executive side) Decision on Coordination System in the Process of European Integration in Bosnia and Herzegovina, while further, on 15 February 2016 Chairman of the BiH Presidency Mr Čović submitted the candidate application of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the European Union.

Summary table on project implementation

Number of implemented

activities

Q1

(F

eb –

Apr

il 20

14)

Q2

(May

– J

uly

2014

)

Q3

(A

ug –

Oct

201

4)

Q4

(N

ov 2

014

– Ja

n 20

15)

Q5

(F

eb –

Apr

il 2

015)

Q6

(M

ay –

Jul

y 20

15)

Q7

(A

ug –

Oct

201

5)

Q8

(N

ov 2

015

– F

eb 2

016)

TO

TA

L

COMPONENT 0 2 0 0 0 4 0 0 4 10

COMPONENT 1 3 4 3 2 3 2 3 3 23

COMPONENT 2 5 4 8 4 2 1 0 1 25



COMPONENT 3 3 5 2 1 5 6 1 1 24

COMPONENT 4 3 0 0 0 3 8 6 2 22

COMPONENT 5 0 1 1 1 9 5 2 6 25

COMPONENT 6 4 3 1 4 3 1 3 1 20

COMPONENT 7 2 1 2 2 1 7 5 3 23 TOTAL 22 18 17 14 30 31 20 21 173 Number of Side letters

5 4 4 2 6 3 3 3 30

Number of Addenda 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 3

Project visibility Three public media events were organized in the framework of the project, the Kick-off Meeting, a series of Workshops for the representatives of the media and the youth and civil society organizations and the final Closing Event. Both on the Kick-off and the Closing Events Members of Parliament, EU diplomatic corps and media representatives participated in good number showing the high political interest towards the project on behalf of the MSs, BC and EUD. The Twinning Project’s website established and put into operation with publicly accessible general explanation and actual details of implementation of the Twinning Project. Under the web address www.bih-parliamentary-twinning.eu the information is available in four languages. About the most important events of the Project news items were published, while all key documents were uploaded as well. All the slides of training presentations and training manuals have been translated into one of the three official languages (Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian) based on the rotation system agreed by the members of Steering Committee, and made available via the internal network of the four Beneficiary Parliaments in BiH. Similarly, all reports and recommendations were translated into one of the three official languages (Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian) based on the rotation system agreed by the members of Steering Committee: the MPs and the staff of the BiH Parliaments can consult the documentation and get information about the project assumptions, implementation and results. During the implementation period, several information documents were elaborated, published and distributed by the Project, such as:

1. Leaflet on the Project 2. Interim summary of the implementation of the Twinning Project 3. Information leaflet on the Twinning Project 4. Fact Sheet on Project Achievements 5. Joint Statement of the Collegiums of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and

Herzegovina, the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the National Assembly of Republika Srpska and the Speaker of the Assembly of the Brčko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina

6. Cooperation mechanism for the Parliaments of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the tasks of the EU integration process



7. Leaflet, poster and presentation on the role of parliaments in the EU accession process 8. Concluding manual on strengthening capacities for strategic guidance of the EU accession

process and dialogue with the European Parliament 9. Concluding manual on enhancing the mechanisms and capacity for legislative alignment 10. Concluding manual on oversight activities 11. Concluding manual on increasing the visibility of the role of parliaments and the

involvement of the civil society in the EU accession process 12. Concluding manual on cooperation and coordination among Parliaments of BiH on EU-

related activities 13. Concluding manual on improving internal resources management 14. Consolidated Training Manual

At the end of the Project, the visibility materials were not only published in hard copy, but also on a USB key All the printed and electronic materials were distributed in February 2016 in all 4 Beneficiary Parliaments to each of the Members of Parliament, the party caucuses, the Secretaries (General), further committee secretaries, the Counterparts and the component coordinators, in addition to governmental/executive bodies, the EUD and other international organisations, civil society organizations, and they were also made available in numerous copies in the libraries and Visitor Centres of the BiH Parliaments. Each staff member received the USB key containing all the materials in electronic form, and each senior staff member (i.e. heads of administrative units) further additionally received the printed materials affecting their field of work. Several other visibility materials (roll-up banners, folders, notebooks, bags and pens) were prepared and used in the course of the project implementation.



2D – ACHIEVEMENTS OF MANDATORY RESULTS The Project provided all deliveries needed for the achievement of the mandatory results. All the necessary recommendations were elaborated and all the necessary training activities were delivered. Of course implementation of the deliveries entail significant challenges for the BiH Parliaments. Some of the recommendations can be implemented in the short run, while others require longer period of time with important budgetary and human resources consequences. That is why the recommendations of the Project were summarized in customized action plans for each BiH Parliaments defining the concrete implementation deadlines and implementing actors to fully put the mandatory results in practice. For each Component and mandatory result, the Twinning Project has undertaken the necessary analysis and assessment of the current situation at the Beneficiary Parliaments and has provided them with its recommendations for achieving the stated mandatory results together with the necessary tools and knowledge for their implementation. The two main achievements of the Twinning Project:

1) Customized Action Plans for each Beneficiary Parliament to enhance the role of Parliaments in the EU integration context were not only elaborated by the Project, but also endorsed and formally adopted. The Action Plans intend to serve as a roadmap to guide and enhance the activities of the Parliaments in the EU integration process. They describe 250-300 concrete actions for each Parliament, defining for each action (recommendation) the format, the responsible body and the deadline for implementation. The Action Plans were discussed and adopted by the responsible political bodies of all 4 Beneficiary Parliaments – the Collegiums of the State and Entity Parliaments and the Assembly of Brčko District – before the end of the Project, in late 2015. The latest and final recommendations of the Twinning Project were also incorporated, i.e. the Action Plans were updated and adopted early 2016. This means that decision is taken on the implementation of the Project’s proposals, and the parliamentary administrations already started to implement those. 2) The parliamentary cooperation framework, the Cooperation mechanism of the Parliaments of BiH in the EU integration process was adopted and signed by the Parliaments’ leaders, defining specific fora and practical, ready-to-use rules of the cooperation. It defines 3 levels of political cooperation: the Conference of Speakers of the BiH Parliaments, the Parliamentary Forum for EU Integration and the Cooperation of sectoral committees; while it also defines the cooperation and regular coordination at the level of the administration and allows other ad hoc cooperation as well..

In order to facilitate the transfer of the Twinning Project’s findings and recommendations and the commitments what the Beneficiary Parliaments took, they were translated into local languages and presented and distributed to the Members of Parliaments, Party Caucuses and parliamentary administration right before the end of the Project. Thus, the Parliaments are now familiar with all the important tasks ahead and the Project’s proposed solutions for these challenges. Below it is presented an overview on the Components’ activities leading to the performance of the mandatory results, and a brief explanation on them. Thoroughly detailed findings and recommendations are presented in the Concluding Manuals of each Component which form part of the project documentation. They provide specific concluding findings and recommendations on all the results, the gained knowledge and the precise changes to be introduced in the organization, tasks, responsibilities and functioning of the BC institutions in the respective fields.



COMPONENT 0 PROJECT KICK-OFF AND CLOSING EVENTS AND EVALUATION CONFERENCES In the frame of this Component the following activities took place:

No. Date Year Activity

0.1 4 – 7 February 2014 Administrative Kick-off of the Project

0.2 9 – 11 March 2014 Kick-off event

0.3.1 17 – 18 March 2015 Mid-Term Conference on project results with Political Leaders of the BiH Parliaments

0.3 18 – 19 March 2015 Mid-Term Conference on project results with Political Leaders of the BiH Parliaments

0.4 24 – 27 February 2015 Mid-term workshops for MPs of newly elected Parliaments

0.5 18 – 19 January 2016 Concluding Conference on project results with Secretaries General of the BiH Parliaments

0.6 26 January 2016 Closing Event

0.7.1 12 – 13 November 2015 Conference on Cooperation and Implementation of Actions to Enhance the Role of Parliaments in the EU Integration Process with Secretaries General of the BiH Parliaments

0.7 12 – 13 November 2015 Conference on Cooperation and Implementation of Actions to Enhance the Role of Parliaments in the EU Integration Process with Political Leaders of the BiH Parliaments

The objective of the activities in this Component was on one hand to inform the stakeholders, media and the public about the objective, method, working process and results of the twinning activities in order to give visibility to the project. On the other hand it provided important impetus to the achievement of the project results by discussing the developments with the political leadership of the Beneficiary Parliaments, what also promoted and facilitates the implementation of project recommendations. Most of the agreements with political and administrative leaderships on the main project results were also made in the framework of these activities. They also served as a good practice for the cooperation framework among the BiH Parliaments in fulfilling the EU integration tasks.



COMPONENT 1 STRENGTHENING CAPACITIES FOR STRATEGIC GUIDANCE OF THE EU ACCESSION PROCESS AND DIALOGUE WITH THE EUROPEAN PA RLIAMENT In the frame of this Component the following activities took place:


1.1 STRENGTHENING THE RESOURCES AND MECHANISMS AVAILABL E TO MPS, PARLIAMENTARY BODIES AND THE CHAMBERS FOR STRATEGIC GUIDANCE OF THE EU ACCESSION PROCESS

1.1.1 22 April – 9 May 2014 Assessment on resources and mechanisms available to MPs for strategic guidance of the EU accession process

1.1.2 6 – 10 October 2014 Guidelines session for improvement of support to MPs in the strategic guidance of the EU accession process

1.1.3 3 – 7 November 2014 Roundtable discussions on the Guidelines for improvement of support to MPs in the strategic guidance of the EU accession process

1.1.4 24 – 28 Novembar 2014 Recommendations for improvement of support to MPs in the strategic guidance of the EU accession process

1.2 TRAINING PROGRAMME ON BEST PRACTICES OF EU MEMBER S TATES AND CANDIDATE COUNTRIES ON THE ROLE OF PARLIAMENTS AND THE SUPPORT TO MPS ON EU-RELATED ISSUES

1.2.1 17 – 21 March 2014 Training on the role of national parliaments in EU decision-making

1.2.2 14 - 18 April 2014 Training on the lessons learnt about the role of national parliaments in the accession process of recently joined Member States

1.2.3 19 – 23 May 2014 Training on the experiences of recently acceded Member States in the negotiations with the EU and on the parliamentary monitoring of the negotiations

1.2.4 16 – 20 June 2014 Training on the tasks and organization of parliamentary administrations in the accession process

1.2.5 3 – 6 June 2014 Study visit to Croatia for staff on the experiences related to the activities in European affairs in the accession process

1.2.6 23 – 27 June 2014 Internship in Hungary for staff on the tasks of parliamentary administration in European affairs

1.3 REVIEW OF THE STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS OF THE PAR LIAMENTS’ WORK AND SETTING UP MECHANISMS FOR JOINT PLANNING OF PAR LIAMENTS’ WORK IN EU INTEGRATION

1.3.1 7 – 16 September 2015 Assessment of the strategic planning process of the Parliaments’ work with special regard on EU-related Work Plans




1.3.2 5 – 9 October 2015

Guidelines to improve the strategic planning process and establishing a regular parliamentary consultation mechanism and cooperation with the EU coordination mechanism at government level

1.3.3 26 – 30 October 2015

Roundtable discussions on the Guidelines to improve the strategic planning process and establishing a regular parliamentary consultation mechanism and cooperation with EU coordination mechanism at government level

1.3.4 16 – 20 November 2015 Recommendations to improve the strategic planning process and establishing a regular parliamentary consultation mechanism and cooperation with EU coordination mechanism at government level

1.4 SETTING UP MECHANISMS TO SUPPORT THE STABILIZATION AND ASSOCIATION PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE (IN THE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEM BLY OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA)

1.4.1 9 – 13 February 2015 Assessment of the current institutional set-up and capacity for support to the political cooperation with the European Parliament

1.4.2 14 – 17 April 2015 Training on the work of Association Joint Parliamentary Committees with the European Parliament

1.4.3 27 – 30 April 2015

Guidelines for the working methods of the Delegation of the PABiH in the Stabilization and Association Parliamentary Committee

1.4.4 29 June – 3 July 2015 Roundtable discussions on the Guidelines and Recommendations for the working methods of the Delegation of the PABiH in the Stabilization and Association Parliamentary Committee

1.5 8 – 11 September 2014 Training seminar and consultation for Brčko District Assembly on strategic guidance of the EU accession process

1.6 30 November – 4 December 2015 Concluding Manual on strengthening capacities for strategic guidance of the EU accession process and dialogue with the European Parliament. Publication of the Manual

Mandatory Result 1 - Role of parliaments in BiH in the strategic guidance of the EU accession process improved • Mechanism for planning and monitoring of the EU integration related work of Parliaments for

EU integration is installed and functioning. • Parliaments are knowledgeable of European practices on the role of parliaments in the EU and

the accession process. • Regular consultation mechanism with EU coordinating structure (when established) is installed

and functioning (alternative: participation of representatives of parliamentary assemblies in the EU coordinating structure is ensured).

• Working methods of Parliamentary Stabilisation and Association Committee established and support ensured

Adequate resources and mechanisms are inevitable preconditions for a successful EU integration process from a parliamentary point of view. This means that the existence of a political leadership with the necessary understanding and vision of performing the integration tasks, capable and well



organized administrative structures specialized in European integration and thoroughly planned and analyzed strategy for implementing the tasks ahead are of fundamental need. Component 1 focused on four different issues to achieve this objective: 1. It targeted the strengthening of the knowledge and skills at the administrations of the Parliaments of BiH in EU accession related activities, 2. It analyzed the needs of MPs playing key role in leading the accession related activities of the Parliaments of BiH, 3. It served to introduce better planning mechanisms for the EU-related work of the Parliaments of BiH, and 4. It intended to maximize the opportunities which lie in the cooperation with the European Parliament in the Stabilization and Association Parliamentary Committee. In order to strengthen the knowledge and skills at the administrations of the Parliaments of BiH in the accession process, a detailed analysis and assessment of the current human resources (organisational structure and hierarchical system) and other resources (infrastructure, etc.) of the Parliaments of BiH had been made, focusing mainly on the part of the administration dealing with EU affairs at the moment or to be involved in dealing with it in the future. Based on the assessment, guidelines were elaborated how to make the use of current resources more efficient and how to strengthen the capacities with the involvement of possible new resources. The guidelines were discussed in roundtables with the leaders of the administrations of the Parliaments of BiH and with political authorities. As a result of the roundtables (i.e. feedback from the Beneficiary to the guidelines), concrete recommendations were prepared for improvement of support to MPs in the strategic guidance of the EU accession process. In this framework, new or modified administrative structures, mechanisms and allocation of resources were also proposed. One of the most important proposal of the Project is the recommendation on the establishment of specialized EU units (EU adviser in BDA) within the parliamentary administration of each BiH Parliament, as key step to improve the support to MPs in the strategic guidance of the EU accession process. It is also indicated because it is expected that the dynamics of accession process (thus parliamentary involvement) will increase in the forthcoming period of time, therefore it is clear that the issue of handling EU affairs on administrative level in each BiH Parliament must be urgently addressed and should be implemented as a priority. Additionally, a cooperation mechanism between EU administrative units of all BiH Parliaments should be established, as it is also described in the Cooperation mechanism of the Parliaments of BiH in the EU integration process. The proposal also covers what tasks the EU units should take in main fields of parliamentary EU activities in the accession process (such as legal harmonization – transposition of EU acquis tasks; monitoring and scrutiny tasks; information activities; international and interparliamentary cooperation tasks; and other tasks). Setting up the specialized EU units with clearly assigned competencies and tasks will ensure the transparency in structure, the completeness of actions and a coherent approach, avoiding any possible duplication of tasks in the parliamentary administration. In order to successfully perform the heterogeneous tasks of strategic guidance in the EU accession process, it is of great importance to concentrate on widening the knowledge of the Beneficiaries in various aspects of the activities of national parliaments in the EU accession process with special regards on the experiences of EU Member States and previous candidate countries. In order to perform the EU accession related tasks of the Parliaments of BiH successfully, parliamentary stakeholders need to possess a solid and extensive background on the role and practices of parliaments in EU related tasks both before and after accession. Such a knowledge was delivered by the intensive training programme implemented in the framework of the Component 1 (while activities of Component 6 also contributed to this objective).



A solid cooperation between Government and Parliament should be based on a structured planning and a clear programming allowing all players to prepare themselves to best perform their EU approximation tasks. Such a system could guarantee that the institutions act according to clear rules and deadlines with reducing the number of issues passed in a sort of emergency legislative procedure and so enlarging the possibility of adopting high quality legislation in large quantity (which might be the largest challenge during the accession process). In this framework the main task is to set up a planning and prioritization process in the EU approximation activities of the Parliaments of BiH which reflects the Work Plans of the Governments of BiH to ensure a smooth implementation of the EU integration and legal harmonization process. The introduction of clear planning and programming can ensure that Members of Parliaments understand better what is at stake and in this way there will be also more time to involve other stakeholders, especially relevant interest groups and other civil society organizations into the approximation process. In order to achieve this objective, a thorough analysis of current EU-related planning in BiH (both in the Executive Bodies and Parliaments, but especially focusing on the Work Plans of the Governments) had been made. Based on this picture guidelines were prepared to establish a joint parliamentary planning mechanism in EU integration which also focused on consultations with respective BiH executive authorities in light of the future EU coordination mechanism. The guidelines were discussed in roundtables both with the involvement of all parliamentary and governmental stakeholders. On the basis of the results on the guidelines, detailed recommendations were elaborated for a smooth regular planning and consultation mechanism. In the accession process the major link of the Parliament with EU institutions is the interparliamentary committee meeting formed out of the delegation of the European Parliament and members of the third country parliament. In the case of BiH, being a potential candidate country with an SAA in force this takes the form the Stabilization and Association Parliamentary Committee (SAPC). Even though this in later, candidate country stage will be renamed into a joint parliamentary committee (or JPC), it is still a key task to maximize the opportunities provided by this cooperation. As a first step, an assessment was made on the current institutional set-up and capacity for support to the political cooperation with the European Parliament. Special trainings on the subject matter were also organized to introduce specific examples on how the previous candidate countries benefited from this cooperation during their accession. Since in the BiH constitutional set-up the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina has the right to take part of such interparliamentary cooperation, guidelines for the support mechanisms of PABiH were elaborated based on the best practices of earlier accession processes. After receiving feedback from the stakeholders (i.e. the administrative leaders of the PABiH and the Members of the SAPC), recommendations were prepared for improved working methods and mechanisms. The Concluding Manual Strengthening capacities for strategic guidance of the EU accession process and dialogue with the European Parliament summarizes all the results, recommendations and gained knowledge during the several activities of Component 1. It facilitates the direct information providing for the MPs and staff and other parliamentary stakeholders on the specific changes to be introduced in the organization, tasks, responsibilities and functioning of the BC institutions in the field of strategic guidance for the EU accession process and dialogue with the European Parliament. For the specific details on the findings and recommendations, please consult the mentioned Concluding Manual, regarding the timing and deadlines see the Action Plans.



COMPONENT 2 ENHANCING THE MECHANISMS AND CAPACITIES FOR LEGISLA TIVE ALIGNMENT In the frame of this Component the following activities took place:


2.1 REVIEW OF THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS AND ELABORATION O F GUIDELINES TO IMPROVE THE PRACTICE OF LEGISLATION

2.1.1 17 February – 6 March 2014 Review of the current legislative process

2.1.2 14 – 18 April 2014 Guidelines to improve the practice of legislation

2.1.3 5 – 9 May 2014 Roundtable discussions on the Guidelines to improve the practice of legislation

2.1.4 23 – 27 June 2014 Recommendations to improve the practice of legislation

2.2 MAPPING THE TERMS OF REFERENCE (TORs) OF PARLIAMENT ARY BODIES IN TERMS OF APPROXIMATION WITH THE ACQUIS AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SAA/IA

2.2.1 15 September – 9 October 2014 Analysis of the ToR of the committees at each governance level in light of their responsibility for approximation with the acquis and implementation of the SAA/IA

2.2.2 9 – 13 February 2015 Guidelines for a Map of responsibilities of the parliamentary bodies for specific areas of approximation with the acquis

2.2.3 9 – 13 March 2015 Roundtable discussions on the Guidelines and finalization of the Map of responsibilities of the parliamentary bodies for specific areas of approximation with the acquis

2.3

DESIGNING NEW/AMENDED MECHANISMS INCLUDING SETTING UP COMPLIANCE CHECK FOR THE AMENDMENTS THAT ARE SUBMITTED IN THE LEGISLATIVE PROCEDURE BY THE MPs AND/OR FOR THE DRAFT LAWS PREPARED BY THE RELEVANT PARLIAMENTARY PROPONENT

2.3.1 10 – 19 March 2014 Review of the installed mechanisms for compliance check practices

2.3.2 9 – 13 June 2014 Guidelines for enhancing the process of legal approximation

2.3.3 30 June – 4 July 2014 Roundtable discussions on the Guidelines for enhancing the process of legal approximation

2.3.4 3 – 7 November 2014 Practical exercise of the Guidelines for enhancing the process of legal approximation




2.3.5 24 – 28 November 2014 Drafting a manual on Parliaments’ procedure for legal approximation with the acquis

2.4 TRAINING PROGRAMME ON LEGAL APPROXIMATION

2.4.1 24 – 28 March 2014 Workshop on legislative techniques and legislative drafting

2.4.2 12 – 16 May 2014 Workshops on legislative programming and prioritization of legal approximation tasks

2.4.3 22 – 26 September 2014 Workshops on parliamentary approximation process and tasks

2.4.4 20 – 24 October 2014 Workshop on approximation case studies

2.4.5 29 – 31 October 2014 Study visit to Poland for staff on legal approximation process

2.5 SETTING UP GUIDELINES ON THE E-SUPPORT OF THE LEGIS LATIVE AND APPROXIMATION PROCESS

2.5.1 29 September – 16 October 2014 Review of the current e-mechanisms to support the legislative process

2.5.2 10 – 14 November 2014 Guidelines for developing the e-tools support in the legislative and approximation process

2.5.3 15 – 19 December 2014 Roundtable discussions and finalization of the guidelines for enhancing the application of e-tools in the legislative and approximation process

2.6 6 – 10 October 2014 Training seminar and consultation for Brčko District Assembly on legislative process and legal approximation

2.7 25 – 29 May 2015 Concluding Manual on enhancing the mechanisms and capacity for legislative alignment. Publication of the Manual

2.8 2 – 6 November 2015 Monitoring support to the implementation of recommendations of Component 2

Mandatory Result 2 - Streamlined and implemented procedures for co-ordinated planning and monitoring of the process of approximation of legislation with EU acquis • Terms of References (ToRs) of parliamentary working bodies are mapped in terms of

responsibility of parliamentary working bodies for approximation with the acquis and implementation of the SAA/IA

• More efficient legislative techniques are introduced to the relevant BC authorities compared to baseline based on new or modified procedures and/or techniques.

• Better functioning approximation mechanisms are tested and introduced compared to baseline, based on new or modified procedures and/or techniques.

• Guidelines for the enhancement of the e-tools supporting the legislation are elaborated. • Parliaments are more familiar with European practices of legal approximation process. • Well-functioning mechanism of information sharing with Council of Ministers/Governments of

the approximation and legislative procedures for alignment with the acquis designed



Component 2 focused on the legislative process of the Parliaments and the law approximation of the domestic regulations with the EU acquis. The improvement of the practice of legislation is a precondition of the development of successful law approximation processes with the EU acquis and the implementation of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement. The activities of the Twinning Project concentrated on the duties and responsibilities of the different parliamentary bodies, as well as the working methods and mechanisms to improve the legislation in general and ensure a sustainable EU law approximation system. Special emphasis was put on the coordination with government structures as the main actors of the law approximation procedure and proponents of the legislative proposals in most of the cases. The improvement of the legislative process in the Parliaments of BiH is necessary in order to raise the quality of legislation by introducing more efficient legislative methods which ensure secure and transparent legal environment serving as a solid basis for EU law approximation and developments in all fields of society and economy. The scope of the elaborated recommendations stretches from the functioning of the different parliamentary bodies to the tasks of the administration, while taking into account the necessary cooperation among the Parliaments and the governmental bodies. The most important task of parliaments in the process of EU integration is the approximation of the national law with the EU acquis. This very complex task has to be carried out continuously during the various stages of the process of integration, and not exclusively by the parliaments, but in close cooperation with the governments and the EU institutions. The successful EU law approximation requires the improvement of the legal framework and development of the mechanisms, techniques of approximation including concrete methodological and legal changes: this was examined in the 1st sub-component. In order to fulfil all requirements of working methods and techniques in relation with compliance checking in the parliamentary procedures, comprehensive and transparent legislative mechanisms have to be ensured – the related issues were tackled in the 2nd sub-component. A map of duties and responsibilities of legislative organs and their working bodies operating at all legislative levels related to the field of law approximation and implementation of the SAA ensures a solid institutional framework for performing the tasks of EU accession – this was explored more in detail in the 3rd sub-component. Supporting these aims, the Project delivered a thorough analysis on each Parliament’s rules in force and the existing practice. Based on the assessments, the Project elaborated several recommendations. The recommendations of the 1st sub-component, improving the practice of legislation covered horizontal issues related to the legislative process (strengthening the parliamentary services supporting the legislative process, the public accessibility of proposals and other parliamentary documents, the modification of multiple laws by one legislative proposal, the multilingual legislation, access to consolidated versions of laws, abolition of the authentic interpretation procedure), further on the legislative procedure itself (work program, explanation and explanatory memorandum to the drafts, legislative and nomotechnical rules, compliance with the constitutional and other legal requirements, various committee matters, issues related to amendments, and phases of the legislative process). The recommendations related to design new mechanism amendments and legislative proposals prepared by parliamentary proponent (2nd sub-component) delivered solutions in the following fields: the applicable legal context defining the law approximation and existing legal harmonization mechanisms at the respective level, the planning and the priorities of the legal approximation, the actors in law approximation outside and inside the respective institution, further the procedure and practice in legal approximation, finally issues related to cooperation and coordination.



In the implementation period of the project several recommendations were fully or partially implemented by the Parliaments (such as the authentic interpretation procedure was abolished, or consolidated version of laws after each modification are elaborated), varying from Beneficiary to Beneficiary, as it is also indicated in the respective Action Plan. In the 3rd sub-component, the Project elaborated a clear outline on the competences for the parliamentary committees in terms of approximation with the acquis and implementation of the SAA which can be easily fine-tuned when a systematic integration plan (such the National Programme for Integration) will be elaborated and adopted. As the topic of another sub-component, an important requirement for an efficient parliament, and its legislative drafting and legal approximation tasks, is good quality IT support. The solid functioning of the e-parliamentary IT system is of the greatest importance to facilitate the legislative activity and the approximation process trough transparent internal and external communication. In this sub-component, with the help of a thorough overview of different practices of the EU Member States, guidelines were identified to develop IT support for the fulfilment of the efficient and transparent functioning of the Parliaments. The Concluding Manual Enhancing the mechanisms and capacity for legislative alignment summarizes in a comprehensive way the findings and recommendations that were presented and developed by the Twinning expert team in order to offer improved framework in the matter of subject. For the specific details on the findings and recommendations, please consult this Concluding Manual, regarding the timing and deadlines see the Action Plans.



COMPONENT 3 ENHANCING THE MECHANISM FOR OVERSIGHT OF THE GOVERNMENT, OF

SUPERVISORY AND REGULATORY BODIES AND IMPROVING COOPERATION WITH

GOVERNMENT ON THE EU ACCESSION PROCESS In the frame of this Component the following activities took place:


3.1 IMPROVING THE OVERSIGHT ACTIVITIES OF PARLIAMENTS V IS-Á-VIS GOVERNMENTS WITH SPECIAL REGARD TO THE EU ACCESSION PROCESS

3.1.1 24 February – 14 March 2014 Review of the oversight practices and reporting mechanisms by governments with special regard to the EU accession process

3.1.2 7 – 11 April 2014 Guidelines to improve oversight practices and reporting mechanisms by governments with special regard to the EU accession process

3.1.3 7 – 11 July 2014

Roundtable discussions on the Guidelines and Recommendations to improve oversight practices and reporting mechanisms by governments with special regard to the EU accession process

3.2 IMPROVING THE OVERSIGHT PRACTICES OF PARLIAMENTS RE LATED TO SUPERVISORY AND REGULATORY BODIES

3.2.1 (3

parts)

30 March – 3 April 4 – 15 May 25 May – 5 June

2015 Review of the oversight practices related to supervisory and regulatory bodies

3.2.2 22 June – 10 July 2015 Guidelines to improve oversight practices related to supervisory and regulatory bodies

3.2.3 13 – 31 July 2015 Roundtable discussions on the Guidelines and recommendations to improve oversight practices related to supervisory and regulatory bodies

3.3 TRAINING PROGRAMME ON PARLIAMENTARY OVERSIGHT AND O N THE APPLICATION OF OVERSIGHT INSTRUMENTS IN THE PARLIAM ENTS OF THE EU MEMBER STATES

3.3.1 26 – 29 May 2014 Workshops on the oversight functions of the plenary

3.3.2 16 – 19 June 2014 Workshops on the oversight functions of the parliamentary standing committees and inquiry committees

3.3.3 17 – 20 November 2014 Workshops on the oversight of supervisory and regulatory bodies

3.3.4 3 – 7 May 2015 Study visit to France for MPs on oversight activities

3.4 STRENGTHENING THE RESEARCH CAPACITIES OF THE PARLIA MENTS OF BiH AS A MAJOR PILLAR OF MORE EFFECTIVE OVERSIGHT A CIVITIES

3.4.1 23 June – 10 July 2014 Assessment of current research capacities of the Parliaments in BiH




3.4.2 15 – 19 September 2014 Training on improving research capacities

3.4.3 9 – 13 February 2015 Guidelines to improve the research capacities of the Parliaments of BiH

3.4.4 30 March – 3 April 2015 Recommendations to improve the research capacities of the Parliaments of BiH

3.5 27 – 30 October 2014 Training seminar and consultation for Brčko District Assembly on parliamentary oversight

3.6 5 – 9 October 2015 Concluding Manual on oversight activities. Publication of the Manual

3.7 2 – 6 November 2015 Monitoring support to the implementation of recommendations of Component 3

Mandatory Result 3 - Oversight mechanisms of the EU accession process installed and practiced; Proper reporting mechanisms of Government and regulatory bodies installed and put into practice • More effective oversight mechanisms vis-à-vis Governments are introduced compared to

baseline. • More effective oversight mechanisms related to supervisory and regulatory bodies are introduced

compared to baseline. • Parliaments are more familiar with European standards in oversight activities. • Research capabilities of the administrative staff are strengthened compared to baseline based on

new or modified procedures and methods One of the most important duties and responsibilities of the parliaments, besides the legislation, is the oversight over the activities of the institutions of executive branch and those other which report to them. The governments and supervisory and regulatory bodies play a crucial role in the course of the whole EU integration process, as they are responsible for the development of the related preparation and implementation of the plans and policies and also for coordination of the law approximation process. Therefore strengthening of the oversight function of Parliaments at the level of plenary session and committees is of utmost importance in order to achieve a structured and regular monitoring mechanism. The main objective of the formulated recommendations in the Component 3 is to achieve more effective oversight practices by Parliaments at the level of plenary and committees over the Government and over the supervisory and regulatory bodies in general, and with special regard on the EU accession process. The development and functioning of transparent cooperation mechanisms between the Parliaments and the Governments leading BiH through the EU integration process are the preconditions to ensure successful law approximation process and effective implementation of the SAA, since the coordination of EU legal approximation activities and the implementation of EU related measures are mainly carried out by the governmental structures. However, the Parliaments – as the bodies providing democratic legitimacy to the whole integration process – need information provided by the Governments and other institutions to perform their oversight function adequately in the EU integration process. The standing committees provide forums for the most important policy discussions and compliance checking within the Parliaments.



In this respect, the Project elaborated several detailed recommendations on the methods and practice of increasing the transparency of the parliamentary oversight activities, emphasizing the importance of the active use and practice of the oversight tools which are ensured by the legal norms already (interpellations, inquiry committees, reports). Other important recommendations suggest that the committees should have a certain amount of funds to spend at their discretion supporting the oversight activities, and to rely more on qualified staff and external expertise. Since the Parliaments are the main responsible organs for the oversight of the functioning of supervisory and regulatory bodies, and these institutions play a significant role in the formulation of policies and regulations and their implementations in special fields, the Parliaments have to perform comprehensive and detailed oversight of all their actions. The importance of the regulatory and supervisory bodies increases along the different phases of the EU integration process, since economic and social activities supervised by such agencies are heavily regulated at the EU level. In this regard, the role of plenary and committees is crucial in the everyday oversight of supervisory and regulatory bodies. Additional aspect of the relationship between the regulatory and supervisory bodies and Parliaments can be defined through the advisory function of such bodies towards the Parliaments. More precisely, regulatory and supervisory agencies possess significant and specialised knowledge on certain fields that play prominent role in the EU integration process, and in this regard they can assist Parliaments in gaining better understanding of such topics. Beyond conducting a genuine and unique analysis and mapping of the field, the Project delivered several tailored recommendations for all 4 Beneficiaries in this component, too. The recommendations covered the way of oversight of these bodies in a comprehensive way, such as recommending that: • the parliamentary standing committees should be tasked for the selection and appointment of the

heads of these bodies / close coordination and consultation of sectoral committees should be ensured in this respect;

• deadlines should be defined for the submission of reports from regulatory and supervisory agencies paired with consequences of the late submission of reports and also of the rejection of agency reports;

• sufficient time-frame has to be ensured for the discussion and adoption of parliamentary position on agency reports;

• the structure and content of annual agency reports should be defined together with the benchmarks of the sufficiently informative financial reports;

• thematic sessions and discussions should be introduced for direct and in-depth discourse with agency representatives;

• parliamentary inquiry could be launched based on agency reports, further agency reports could be used by MPs as possible catalyst for legislative action;

• the Parliaments should actively use the professional capacity and knowledge of agencies to receive updated evaluations on specific subject matters or issues of public concerns, also in the oversight with regard to regulatory/supervisory agencies in EU integration context and in the parliamentary aspect of the implementation of SAA, or to rely on them as external consultative partners.

Given that the oversight activities of a parliament are largely dependent on its research capacities, it is indispensable for strengthen the parliamentary research, as a key background support instrument for effective oversight. Research services are also to support the legislative work and the EU integration activities with information and analytical documents. Therefore the strengthening of the research activities of the staff of the Parliaments of BiH is needed for performing successfully the oversight function of the legislative organs and their bodies. The recommendations elaborated by the Project covered various aspects of enhancing the research services, covering the aspects of institutional and legal framework; the services (the specifications of the research products, the human capacities of the research service; internal rules of operation,



balance of the proactive and reactive work); the human and infrastructural resources; networking and cooperation; visibility (especially MPs should be made familiar with the various possibilities of collecting information by the research unit); and statistics and feedback. The Concluding Manual Enhancing the mechanism for oversight activities summarizes in a comprehensive way the findings and recommendations that were presented and developed by the Twinning expert team in order to offer a coherent framework for establishing a more effective oversight mechanism and productive research activity. For the specific details on the findings and recommendations, please consult this Concluding Manual, regarding the timing and deadlines see the Action Plans.



COMPONENT 4 INCREASING PARTICIPATION OF CIVIL SOCIETY AND VISIBILITY OF THE ROLE OF

PARLIAMENTS IN THE EU ACCESSION PROCESS In the frame of this Component the following activities took place:


4.1 CREATING AN EU COMMUNICATION STRATEGY FOR PARLI AMENTS OF BIH

4.1.1 24 February – 5 March 2014 Review of current EU communication activities

4.1.2 14 – 18 April 2014 Guidelines to develop EU Communication Strategy for Parliaments of BiH

4.1.3 4 – 15 May 2015 Roundtable discussions on the Guidelines and developing EU Communication strategy for Parliaments of BiH

4.2 IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EU COMMUNICATION STRATEGY

4.2.1 30 March – 2 April 23 June – 2 July 30 June – 9 July

2015 Publishing brochures, booklets and other materials

4.2.2 22 – 26 June 2015 Workshops on the mechanisms and procedures on the involvement of CSOs into parliamentary work

4.2.3 19 – 23 October 2 – 6 November

2015 Elaborating and publishing e-content on the role of parliaments in the accession process

4.3 INSTALLING MECHANISMS FOR PARTICIPATION OF CSOs IN EU RELATED ISSUES

4.3.1 16 – 20 February 2 – 5 March

2015 Assessment of current provisions and practices for CSOs involvement in parliamentary activities related to the EU accession process

4.3.2 8 – 12 June 2015 Guidelines on involvement of CSOs in parliamentary activities related to the EU accession process

4.3.3 13 – 17 July 2015 Roundtable discussions on the Guidelines on involvement of CSOs in parliamentary activities related to the EU accession process

4.3.4 21 – 25 September 2015 Recommendations to improve the involvement of CSOs in parliamentary activities related to the EU accession process

4.4 TRAINING PROGRAMME ON PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION A CTIVITIES AND INVOLVEMENT OF CSOs INTO PARLIAMENTARY WORK

4.4.1 20 – 23 April 2015 Workshops on parliamentary communication activities and communication strategies

4.4.2 7 – 11 December 2015 Organisation of workshops for Media, Youth and CSOs representatives on the role of the parliaments in the EU accession process

4.4.3 11 – 15 October 2015 Study visit to Portugal for staff on parliamentary communication activities and involvement of CSOs into parliamentary work




4.5 DEVELOPING AN ELECTRONIC EU RESOURCE CENTRE (PARLIA MENTARY ASSEMBLY OF BIH)

4.5.1 6 – 15 July 2015 Design of the electronic EU resource centre

4.5.2 14 – 18 September 2015 Developing modes for sharing information among Parliaments through the electronic EU resource centre

4.5.3 28 September – 2 October 2015 Specific on-the-job-trainings for maintenance and use of the EU resource centre

4.6 1 – 4 June 2015 Training seminar and consultation for Brčko District Assembly on parliamentary communication activities and involvement of CSOs into parliamentary work

4.7 19 – 23 October 2015 Concluding Manual on communication and civil society related activities. Publication of the Manual

Mandatory Result 4 - Structured participation of CSOs in the EU-related activities of parliaments and increased visibility of the Parliaments in the EU accession process

• Parliamentary EU integration communication strategy adopted and implementation started. • Mechanisms for CSOs participation in Parliament’s activities related to the EU accession

process established and practiced. • Parliaments are knowledgeable regarding the parliamentary communication activities and

involvement of CSOs into parliamentary work. • Mechanism for sharing of information among Parliaments aiming at an electronic EU-

resource centre is elaborated Visibility of the parliaments in general but especially in the EU accession process should be considered vital for the citizens to gain knowledge on what parliaments are occupied with and what role they play during the EU integration process. Involvement of the civil society gives possibility for more down-to-Earth law-making and better connection with the society, and so increased legitimacy for the activity of the Parliament and also to the European integration process. Therefore, it is of vital importance for parliaments to have effective communication with the citizens and their organised groups of representatives, i.e. the civil society organizations. In Component 4 of the Twinning Project, activities aimed to show how broad legitimacy of the everyday parliamentary work can be achieved, ending up in a more effective legislative process and at the same time ensuring better support for the democratic structures in the country. A thoroughly planned communication strategy – coordinated with government activities – should direct all information and communication efforts about EU integration. A key factor in the effective communication is the use of modern, up-to-date communication channels. A very important responsibility of a parliament is to communicate the various benchmarks and achievements on the long way of European integration. This is inevitable as – being the centre of internal politics – the parliament can give information that reaches the whole society, including the electorates for all parliamentary parties. Therefore, it is required to set up a separate parliamentary strategy or action plan concentrating on the communication of European integration-related events. According to the best practices of previous candidate countries country-wide EU communication strategies are usually adopted at governmental level with the purpose to provide a common basis for country-wide actions in the field of EU communication. Parliaments have a key role in this process, but in general they adopt rather EU communication action plans based on the country-wide EU Communication Strategy. In line with this approach, proposal for a single BiH-wide EU



Communication Strategy and separate proposals for EU Communication Action Plans – with detailed communication actions – for each Beneficiary Parliament were elaborated in the framework of the Twinning Project. In order to achieve effective and undisturbed communication between the parliaments and the citizens, especially when it comes to the issue of EU integration, involvement of the CSOs is of crucial importance. CSOs are acting as key multipliers and mediators in the chain of communication between individual citizens and the parliament as an institution, therefore whatever actions are performed by the parliaments, and the relevant communication channels with CSOs should be made use of. In order to install the necessary and sufficient mechanisms for the participation of CSOs – especially in EU related issues – European practices were overviewed and considered, just as series of different levels of discussions and consultations were held with the participation of the representatives of the civil society, too. As a result, general principles and standards for cooperation with civil society were laid down and detailed recommendations were elaborated to improve the involvement of CSOs in parliamentary activities related to the EU accession process. The Twinning Project elaborated the concept of an EU resource centre which will be operated as a website with a public and a password protected part. This electronic platform is to be established under the auspices of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina and based on the cooperation of the four BiH Parliaments. The twinning experts also prepared the menu of the website with several content elements. The core purpose of setting up of the EU resource centre is to collect information about the role of the Parliaments in the accession process as well as all the relevant e-content handled or produced by the Beneficiary Parliaments relating to the EU-integration process in one place. By providing direct access to this information on one website will support the work of MPs and staff dealing with the integration process to a great extent while reducing the time needed for information searching and sharing. The electronic EU resource centre would not substitute the individual websites of the Beneficiary Parliaments, on the contrary, it would serve as additional, supplementary tool that supports the daily work and activities of the BiH Parliaments in EU-integration issues. The Concluding Manual Increasing the visibility of the role of parliaments and the involvement of the civil society in the EU accession process summarizes in a comprehensive way the findings and recommendations that were presented and developed by the Twinning expert team in order to offer a coherent framework for establishing a greater visibility and better involvement/cooperation with the civil society organizations. For more specific details on the findings and recommendations please consult this Concluding Manual, regarding the timing and deadlines see the Action Plans.

Activity report 6.7. Evaluation of the Twinning Project's training activities and conclusion for

future training activities

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COMPONENT 5 DEVELOPING REGULAR COOPERATION AND COORDINATION AMONG THE

PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA, PARLIAMENT OF

REPUBLIKA SRPSKA, PARLIAMENT OF FEDERATION OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

AND THE BRČKO DISTRICT ASSEMBLY ON EU-RELATED ISSUES In the frame of this Component the following activities took place:

No. DATE YEAR ACTIVITY

5.1

REVIEW OF THE CURRENT ACTIVITIES OF PARLIAMENTARY STANDING COMMITTEES IN EU-RELATED ISSUES AND ESTABLISHING FORA OF PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEES ON DIFFERENT EU POLICIES WITH REGULAR INFORMATION-SHARING AND COORDINATION MECHANISMS

5.1.1 23 – 27 March 30 March – 2 April

2015 Assessment of the operation of standing committees with special regard on EU-related activities

5.1.2 18 – 22 May 2015

Guidelines to identify coordination mechanisms for different areas of the acquis, the participating responsible committees, parliamentary administrative departments and relevant ministries

5.1.3 22 – 26 June 2015 Roundtable discussions on the guidelines to identify coordination mechanisms for different areas of the acquis

5.1.4 13 – 17 July 2015 Setting up regular information-sharing and coordination mechanisms for fora of parliamentary committees

5.2 ENHANCING THE FORUM OF EU INTEGRATION COMMITTEE S

5.2.1 26 – 30 May 16 – 19 December

2014 Analysing current activities and operation of the Forum of EU integration committees

5.2.2 23 – 27 March 2015 Recommendations for improved working methods for the activities and operation of the Forum of EU integration committees

5.3 INSTALLING REGULAR CONSULTATION AND COORDINATION AMONG PARLIAMENTARY CHAIRS AND PARLIAMENTARY ADMINISTRATIONS ON EU-RELATED ISSUES

5.3.1 14 – 18 September 2015 Guidelines to improve working methods for regular consultations and coordination and setting EU-related priorities

5.3.2 9 – 13 November 2015

Roundtable discussions on the Guidelines to improve working methods for regular consultations and coordination and setting EU-related priorities

5.3.3 23 – 27 November 2015 Recommendations to improve working methods for regular consultations and coordination and setting EU-related priorities



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5.4 TRAINING PROGRAMME ON THE ROLE OF STANDING COMMITTEES IN THE EUROPEAN INTEGRATION AND APPROXIMATION PROCESS

5.4.1 30 March – 2 April 2015 Workshops for standing committees on coordination with Government in European integration affairs

5.4.2 27 – 30 April 2015 Workshops for standing committees on communication tasks in European integration affairs

5.4.3 18 – 21 May 2015 Workshops for standing committees on their role in legal approximation

5.4.4 8 – 11 June 2015 Study visit to Hungary for Members of standing committees on the role of standing committees in the European integration and approximation process

5.5 TRAINING PROGRAMME ON THE ROLE OF EUROPEAN INTEGRATION COMMITTEES

5.5.1 16 – 20 February 2015

Workshops on the operation (legal status, tasks and challenges) of the Committees on European Affairs of the recently acceded Member States during the association and accession periods

5.5.2 20 – 24 April 2015 Workshops on the role of the European Affairs Committees in the Parliaments of the European Union

5.5.3 18 – 22 October 2015

Study visit to Belgium for Members of European Integration Committees on the coordination mechanisms among different level of Parliaments and committees in European affairs

5.5.4 27 – 31 October 2014 Internship to officials of European Integration Committees to Latvia on the role of EU Committee

5.6 27 – 30 April 2015

Training seminar and consultation for Brčko District Assembly on the role of standing committees and the European Integration Committee in the accession process

5.7 15 – 17 December 16 – 18 December

2015 Coordination roundtable discussions/seminars on specific issues related to EU acquis chapters or other issues of common relevance for all parliaments

5.8 30 November – 4 December

2015 Concluding Manual on cooperation and coordination among Parliaments of BiH on EU-related activities. Publication of the Manual

Mandatory Result 5 - Developed regular cooperation and coordination among the parliaments in BiH on EU-related issues • Specific fora for the key areas of the acquis are established with participation of responsible

committees and parliamentary administration departments. • The activities of the Forum of EU integration committees are enhanced. • Mechanism of regular consultation and coordination for agreement by parliamentary chairs and

heads of parliamentary administrations on priorities related to EU-integration elaborated. • Staff and MPs of the Parliaments knowledgeable about the operation of the European Union and

the role of national parliaments and their committees in the accession and so capable of providing more technical input in EU-related parliamentary work



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With the entering into force of the SAA in June 2015, Bosnia and Herzegovina stepped into a new phase of integration, it has given an impetus for taking further steps in order to increase the parliamentary activities in relation to the EU. Immediate launch of a structured cooperation mechanism among the Parliaments is of utmost importance by setting out a possible framework to be implemented following the necessary political endorsement on behalf of the involved political actors. In order to use the opportunities offered by the SAA, the necessary coordination mechanisms at all levels of government as well as of cooperation mechanisms at the legislative-branch level have to be created to translate the political and popular will into real progress and to keep the dynamism of the integration process. The SAA is not only an opportunity but poses immediate and important tasks as well. The pre-accession and accession process poses a serious task for any country whose strategic aim is membership in the EU. The complex constitutional structure of BiH presents a special challenge for this country. It is important to bear in mind, though, that the Copenhagen criteria are the same for every applicant country, and the EU does not make special rules or allow exceptions for any prospective member. If a country wants to join, it has the responsibility to reach internal consensus, and speak with one voice, to successfully represent its own interest. The EU not only expects BiH to speak with one voice, but it will also not deal with more than one point of contact. Therefore, it is imperative, that the one voice be composed of the tones coming from all relevant players. Beneficiary Parliaments already are in the position to start exchanging information, and then of informal cooperation in EU-related fields. These include a wide variety of activities: legal harmonisation, oversight tasks, information activities, international activities, among others. Cooperation has to take place among the Parliaments as well as within them. The introduction of regular and structured meetings should lead to a greater involvement of different bodies of the Parliaments in the integration process. Developing these mechanisms is all the more important since these capacities will also be needed after the accession of BiH to the EU. The informal cooperation mechanism among the BiH Parliaments in EU integration affairs, elaborated in the frame of the Twinning Project, aims at the establishment of the parliamentary pillar of coordination mechanism, ensuring the necessary involvement of the Parliaments into the integration process, and also the required parliamentary oversight of the activities of the executive branch during the EU integration process. The essential elements of the cooperation mechanism are to be set up as soon as possible, however the complexity of constitutional structure of Bosnia and Herzegovina requires that the mechanisms are developed further in light of the different phases of the integration process. Continuous cooperation needs to be established in the form of regular meetings as well as permanent political and professional coordination and exchange of information, based on horizontal and vertical linkage among the Parliaments at different levels. The Concept on the cooperation mechanism for the Parliaments of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the tasks of the EU integration process which gives the necessary framework to successfully coordinate the EU-related activities of the Parliaments was adopted by the BiH Parliaments at the closing event of the Twinning Project, on 26 January 2016. A system of informal cooperation between the BiH Parliaments in relation to the EU integration process is to be established based on mutuality, common work and consensus agreements and



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actions respecting the constitutional structures. As a fundamental principle this system is not to interfere in any way with the constitutional set-up and competences of the Parliaments of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Continuous cooperation is to be established in the form of regular meetings as well as continuous political and professional coordination and exchange of information, based on horizontal and vertical linkage among the Parliaments at different levels. The five elements of the cooperation mechanism for BiH Parliaments in EU integration context are: the Conference of Speakers, the Parliamentary Forum for EU Integration, the cooperation of sectoral committees, administrative cooperation and regular coordination of the EU activities, and other, ad hoc cooperation. The cooperation mechanism to be established now provides an appropriate framework for the current challenges of the European integration process. It can be fine-tuned further on in light of the different phases of the accession process. Additionally, it also provides advices regarding publicity and transparency of the EU activities, further a calendar (schedule) of the activities. The Concluding Manual Developing regular cooperation and coordination among the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the National Assembly of Republika Srpska and the Brčko District Assembly on EU-related issues summarizes in a comprehensive way the findings and recommendations that were presented and developed by the Twinning expert team. For more specific details on the findings and recommendations please consult this Concluding Manual, regarding the timing and deadlines, see the Action Plans.



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COMPONENT 6 RAISISING CAPACITY OF MPs AND PARLIAMENTARY STAFF In the frame of this Component the following activities took place:


6.1 TRAINING NEEDS ASSESSMENT AND DEVELOPMENT OF TRAINI NG PLAN

6.1.1 31 March – 10 April 2014 Training Needs Assessment

6.1.2 13 – 30 October 2014 Designing a training plan (general training plan and specific training plans for the specific Parliaments)

6.2 GENERAL TRAINING MODULE ON EU

6.2.1 3 – 7 March 2014 Seminars on institutional system and decision-making mechanisms of the EU

6.2.2 31 March – 3 April 2014 Seminars on EU law

6.2.3 8 – 12 December 2014 Workshops on EU databases and EU-related research techniques

6.2.4 30 June – 4 July 2014 Seminars on foreign and security policy and external relations of the EU, and on the framework of EU enlargement process

6.2.5 11 – 15 January 2015 Training on practical aspects of EU related research

6.3 SPECIFIC TRAINING MODULE FOR SEPARATE AREAS OF THE ACQUIS

6.3.1 26 – 30 January 2015 Workshops on the free movement of goods, persons, capital and services

6.3.2 2 – 6 February 2015 Workshops on Freedom, Security and Justice, Fundamental rights, and Anti-corruption

6.3.3 23 – 27 February 2015 Workshops on Regional policy and structural instruments, Agriculture and rural developments, Social policy and employment

6.3.4 9 – 13 March 2015 Workshops on Transport, Energy, Environment, Consumer and health protection, Food safety

6.3.5 11 – 15 May 2015 Workshops on Trade and customs, Competition, Public Procurement, Electronic communications and information society, Education and science

6.4 7 – 15 May 2014 Training on project design and implementation

6.5 1 – 4 December 2014 Training seminar for Brčko District Assembly on the functioning of the EU and the EU acquis

6.6 11 – 14 November 2014 Study visit to European Institutions (Brussels, Belgium) for staff

6.7 28 September – 2 October 12 – 15 October

2015 Evaluation of the Twinning Project’s training activities and conclusions for future training activities



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6.8 12 – 16 October 2015 Publication of the Consolidated Training Manuals of the Twinning Project’s training activities

Mandatory Result 6 - Raised capacity of MPs and parliamentary staff for EU-related issues • A training plan for Parliaments and specific training plans for each Parliament are designed on

the basis of performed training needs assessment. • Generic (basic and advanced) EU training modules and specific training modules for areas of

acquis are delivered. • Training activities evaluated and future training activities proposed In Component 6, raising capacity of MPs and parliamentary staff was in focus in order to enhance the general knowledge and also specific skills for better performance in all levels of parliamentary work. First, an analysis of the training needs and the assessment of the ongoing and past training activities and practices were conducted by the Project, targeting the most urging fields where capacity building was necessary. The training needs assessment (TNA) addressed the required training suggestions on the basis of European practices of parliamentary assemblies, taking also into consideration the specific needs of the Beneficiary Parliaments. The TNA serves also as reference for long-term planning future training activities for the Beneficiaries, supporting the work of the management of the parliamentary administrations in the organisation of trainings for the parliamentary staff. The TNA was followed by proposals in the form of training plan (a general training plan and specific training plans for each Beneficiary Parliament) to strengthen strategic planning of all training activities. During the Twinning Project, altogether 41 training activities, including workshops and seminars were organized. The trainings of mainly generic nature were implemented in the frame of this Component 6 (such as on the institutional system of the EU, EU decision making mechanisms, EU-law, enlargement process, further on the chapters of the acquis). Complementary, several training activities of more specific nature – closely related to the respective Component’s matter of subject – were conducted in the other Components. The training activities were scheduled and implemented in a way creating synergy with other ongoing activities such as guidelines and roundtables in related topics, in order to provide outlook and awareness on possible solutions existing in EU Members States and so preparing the ground for a good reception of the recommendations elaborated by the Project. The training expert teams consisted of either three or four members, in most of the cases representing different EU Member States (altogether from 13 different MSs) in order to provide the widest possible range of experience to the Beneficiary Parliaments. Apart from very PABiH-specific exceptions all training programs were organized identically in Sarajevo and in Banja Luka, while representatives of the Brčko District Assembly were invited to participate in one of those trainings. In addition, taking into consideration the special situation of the Brčko District Assembly, 6 trainings were particularly organised for the BDA and implemented only in Brčko. The parliamentary staff from the BC Parliaments was nominated by the respective administrations. The trainings were well attended at all locations, and the average number of participants was approximately 25-30 persons per location (60-100 overall, per activity). Taking into account the BiH parliamentary elections and putting more emphasis for the newly elected legislatures, in line with contract of the Twinning Project in the second half of the Project such opportunities were



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organized for MPs, too. They were invited to participate by the speakers, through the respective caucuses, and by the Secretary (General) of the respective Parliament. Based on the statistics, great number of people obtained well-based deep knowledge on professional aspects of parliamentary work and also on the operation of the EU, especially in terms of enlargement process and role of parliaments in the EU (both in the accession period and onwards). In order to provide further incentives for participation at the event, it was agreed between the Beneficiary partners and the Project Team that for each of the participants who attended at least 2/3 of the seminars, a special certificate of participation at the Twinning Project’s training activities was provided – per component – at the end of the Project. This is a useful tool for proving the gained knowledge in terms of personal professional development. Based on the attendance on the training activities, in the PABiH 60, in the PFBiH 131, in the NARS 168, in BDA 10 certificates were presented in the 7 Component to the staff members recognizing their attendance (several colleagues received more than one certificates). Training materials to the participants on the presentations were provided in one of the local languages. Interactive trainings were organized with power point presentations and substantial question and answers sessions. It was also possible to request consultations from the twinning experts after the trainings. During the trainings simultaneous interpretation were provided to the audience. Besides the training events the twining expert teams also prepared training manuals for each training, these can be used on the long-run as a textbook and a learning tool on the subject matter both for those who took part at the trainings and also for those who could not attend. In case of each training activity a package of files including the slides and the training manual were compiled and distributed to all BiH Parliaments in one of the official languages of BiH on the agreed rotational order. The BiH Parliaments were requested to establish the necessary IT conditions in order to put the training materials on the Parliament’s intranet or into a shared folder available to all MPs and staff. The translated training materials are available at the intranets of PABiH and BDA, while in the NARS those are provided in a cloud. In PFBiH, the training materials are available only in hard copy yet, until the ongoing IT infrastructure development will solve this issue. The evaluation delivered by the Project at the end of the 2-year long Project’s training activities can be summed up as follows: At all training activities the participants had the chance to numerically evaluate the performance of the lecturers and the whole concept of the particular trainings as well as to provide further written remarks for the sake that trainings better fitted to the local needs. The evaluation sheets were then processed in order to support the Project team in monitoring the implementation. Based on this assessment and personal consultations with the BC partners, there was overall satisfaction on behalf of the Beneficiary. On a scale of 1 to 4 (4 being the highest) the overall satisfaction rate of all the trainings were 3.36, with no worse feedback than the average of 3 for each training particularly. These feedbacks can be considered valid, since around two-thirds of participants filled in the questionnaires. Based on the feedbacks in general the participants considered that

- the content of the training course was well structured; - the knowledge and skills acquired during the training were useful for improving future

performance;



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- the content was presented in a professional way; - the training method was appropriate for the topics presented and according to the needs of

participants; - the training materials received by participants were an important tool for supporting the

learning process; - the quality of the presentation of the trainers was good.

Concerning the content of the trainings the overall satisfaction was visible, noting that the trainings provided in the framework of the Project served as a very good basis for the colleagues to gain a) substantial knowledge on EU; and b) general knowledge on European practices in the most important fields of operation of parliaments. As for the further feedback, according to the general approach in the future more specific trainings for more focused groups should be organized in order to further deepen the knowledge gained currently. However, it has to be stated that according to both the Beneficiary Parliaments and the project team (including the management team and the experts), part of the knowledge provided, e.g. some trainings on the evolving EU institutional and acquis issues, might be needed to be further elaborated in the future to ensure that all new colleagues gain the necessary knowledge on these topics. The application of the gained knowledge differs for the various subjects of the trainings. Overall, even for those trainings where colleagues considered that the subject of the trainings does not affect their daily job, the usefulness of the information was undoubted. However, it was argued by many parliamentary partners that in the future, more on the job trainings will be necessary for practical help in the daily work to achieve an even more European standard parliamentary administration. This also applied for the opinion on the methodology, whereas many argued that whilst as a first step this approach was justifiable, in the future more focused, smaller group or even individual trainings should be performed. All in all, evaluation of training activities on behalf of the Beneficiary Parliaments was very positive and some food for thoughts for the organisation of further activities in terms of trainings was articulated, too. The outline of the conclusions – based on the evaluation of the training activities of the Project – are that: • it is advisable to improve the planning of the training and capacity building activities; • a more detailed TNA should be carried out in each of the BiH Parliaments reflecting the current

situation and the recent developments in European integration; • the training target groups should be more specific, where relevant; • on-the-job training and coaching/mentoring by EU experts should be applied in future trainings

in order to improve the working and professional skills, especially in the areas of legal drafting, research and comparative analyses of the legislation and policies, the legal approximation, oversight and involvement of the Civil Society and interest groups;

• proven extensive knowledge and experience possibilities to use local experts should be considered in future training activities;

• medium or longer term internships in EU MS parliaments for the staff members of BiH Parliaments of 3-6 month should be considered as an option;

• study visits of the BiH Parliaments to the EU Member States should be organized in higher number: since the participants are imposed during their entire program to the matter of subject, they are especially efficient tool especially in the case of MPs;

• specific professional trainings in EU training centres is advisable;



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sharing the experiences gained during the trainings and after study visits and trainings abroad should be made mandatory. In order to give a comprehensive overview of all the matter of subjects and the training manuals prepared during these trainings in the course of the Twinning Project, a Consolidated Training Manual was compiled: the training manuals were edited into this textbook-like single reference publication which will be available even long after the Project thus giving possibility to be consulted when necessary in the future. This enables all the readers to take hold on to a material, which makes the project sustainable for not only those MPs and staff members who were able to participate but all other relevant stakeholders (e.g. MPs elected or staff employed after project conclusion). The reference book, resulting from all the training manuals contains the European best practices in many fields of parliamentary work, including the important tasks of parliaments during the European integration process.



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COMPONENT 7 IMPROVING INTERNAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT In the frame of this Component the following activities took place:


7.1 IMPROVING HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT

7.1.1 24 March – 10 April 2014 Review of current human resources management practice

7.1.2 9 – 12 June 2014 Workshop on human resources management practices of EU Member States’ Parliaments

7.1.3 29 September – 3 October 2014 Guidelines to improve human resources management practice

7.1.4 17 – 21 November 2014 Roundtable discussions and Recommendations on the Guidelines to improve human resources management practice

7.1.5 19 – 23 January 2015 Incorporation of trainings in human resources management policies

7.2 DEVELOPING A STRATEGIC PLAN FOR EU INTEGRATION FOR EACH PARLIAMENTARY ADMINISTRATION

7.2.1 4 – 8 May 8 – 12 June 14 – 18 September

2015 Review of current planning practice of parliamentary administrations

7.2.2

19 – 23 October 2 – 6 November 23 – 27 November 7 – 11 December 14 – 18 December 4 – 8 January 11 – 15 January

2015 Recommendations for Strategic Plan for EU integration for each parliamentary administration

7.3 IMPROVING PARLIAMENTARY BUDGET MANAGEMENT

7.3.1 20 – 24 April 4 – 7 May

2015 Assessment of current legislative and procedural arrangement and practices related to parliamentary budget

7.3.2 25 – 28 May 2015 Workshop on parliamentary budget management practices of EU Member States

7.3.3 6 – 10 July 2015 Drafting guidelines for planning and management of parliamentary budgets in Entity Parliaments and Brčko District Assembly

7.3.4 7 – 11 September 2015 Roundtable discussions on the Guidelines for planning and management of parliamentary budgets in Entity Parliaments and Brčko District Assembly

7.3.5 5 – 9 October 2015 Recommendations for planning and management of parliamentary budgets for each Entity Parliament and Brčko District Assembly



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7.4 31 May – 4 June 2015 Study visit to France for staff on internal resources management

7.5 26 – 30 October 2015 Concluding Manual on improving internal resources management

Mandatory Result 7 - Enhanced management of parliamentary resources • Recommendations for developing sound human resources management policies provided. • Trainings incorporated in human resources policies. • Strategic plans for EU integration adopted for each parliament. • Guidelines for improving parliamentary budget management issued and implemented As key administrative background for the effective work of a parliament, various administrative structures have to be continuously improved and adapted to the changing circumstances. Component 7 of the Twinning Project aimed to assess those fields where development would be wishful and addressed guidelines and recommendations in these fields based on European best practices in managing internal resources of parliaments. Strategic planning of internal resources should be the basis for a successful resource management in all Parliaments of BiH. A modern human resources management policy should be adopted and applied also in all parliamentary administrations. The strengthening of the Parliaments’ budgetary autonomy and independence and making the procedures to adopt and manage their budget more effective is also an inevitable precondition for efficiently practicing oversight functions. In order to ensure an effective and sustainable planning of the development of parliamentary administrations, strategic plans should be elaborated and implemented. The strategic plans should include the necessary major steps for strengthening further the capacities of the Parliaments, enumerating the most important tasks to be taken in order to develop their human, financial and infrastructural capacities in line with the needs deriving from the European accession process. Improving human resources management is a vital topic to be addressed in order to develop an advanced administration. As a starting step, the legal and practical framework surrounding parliamentary human resources were examined and collected during the first assessment. This evaluation included aspects such as: method of recruitment, staff regulations, training policy, and career development, evaluation of skills, rights and duties applicable. Furthermore, the existing legal framework was also examined through internal rules, staff regulations and other relevant documents. Complementing the collected country-specific information from BiH, a comprehensive and comparative analysis of the fundamental regulations in force on the status of the parliamentary staff members in the parliaments of the EU Member States was presented. It included detailed information and presentation of best practices on the measures to be taken and the practices to be followed to implement the main principles related to the management of the parliamentary administration, including those principles for an optimal organization of the HR services. As a conclusion, recommendations were presented on the improvement of the HR management practice. In respect of the parliamentary training activities under Component 7, the objective of the Twinning Project was two-fold: on one hand giving theoretical background to the planning of training activities for the future including those practical implications that has to be observed by each Parliament, while on the other hand elaborating a basic training plan for each BiH Parliaments in cooperation with the activities in Component 6. These plans can serve as a ground for further



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internal work of the institutions, giving them guidance on the short-term, medium-term and long-term goals in terms of organisation of training activities in their respective Parliaments. In the framework of improving parliamentary budget management, an inventory of finance and budget related practices of the Parliaments were elaborated, including concrete financial aspects. Further to the elaboration of the assessment, best practices of the Member States were presented explaining the measures to be taken normally and the practices to be followed in general to implement the main principles related to an independent parliamentary budget and finance policy, including those principles for an optimal organization of finances. Recommendations were elaborated and presented to improve the legislative framework related to parliaments’ budget management especially as far as a new budgetary practice (drafting and implementation) and annual draft budget for each service, directorate. The Concluding Manual Improving Internal Resources Management summarizes in a comprehensive way the findings and recommendations that were presented and developed by the Twinning expert team in order to offer a fully coherent framework for establishing a sustainable and sophisticated internal resource management system. For more specific details on the findings and recommendations please consult this Concluding Manual, regarding the timing and deadlines, see the Action Plans.



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2E – IMPACT As stated earlier, the Twinning Project achieved the following two main results: 1) Customized Action Plans for each Beneficiary Parliament to enhance the role of Parliaments in the EU integration context were not only elaborated by the Project, but also endorsed and formally adopted by the political leaderships of the BiH Parliaments. The Action Plans intend to serve as a roadmap to guide and enhance the activities of the Parliaments in the EU integration process. It describes 250-300 concrete actions for each Parliament, defining for each action (recommendation) the format, the responsible body and the deadline for implementation. The Action Plans were discussed and adopted by the responsible political bodies of all 4 Beneficiary Parliaments – the Collegiums of the State and Entity Parliaments and the Assembly of Brčko District – before the end of the Project, in late 2015. The latest and final recommendations of the Twinning Project were also incorporated, i.e. the Action Plans were updated early 2016 by all 4 Beneficiary Parliaments. This means that decision is taken on the implementation of the Project’s proposals, and the parliamentary administrations already started to implement those. 2) Parliamentary cooperation framework, the cooperation mechanism of the Parliaments of BiH in the EU integration process was adopted and signed by the Parliaments’ leaders, defining specific fora and ready-to-use rules for the practice of the cooperation mechanism. It defines 3 levels of political cooperation: the Conference of Speakers of the BiH Parliaments, the Parliamentary Forum for EU Integration and the Cooperation of sectoral committees; further it also defines the cooperation and regular coordination at the level of the administration and allows other ad hoc cooperation as well. The Project as such can be described highly successful, what can be considered as special accomplishment taking especially into regard the utmost complex constitutional and political situation in BiH and in the Beneficiary institutions. The complexity could be described with the facts, that the Project was implemented in 4 different locations, with the participation of 4 permanent resident experts, further 108 short term experts from 13 EU Member States, implementing more than 170 activities in 7 Components. From the perspective of the overall objective of the Twinning (‘To enhance the role of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the National Assembly of Republika Srpska and the Brčko District Assembly in the accession process of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the EU and the implementation of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement.’) it is too early to make a final evaluation on the impact of the Project in detail, but the above two achievements and various further proofs validate the extensive success of the Twinning Project implemented by the Hungarian National Assembly (leader) and the French National Assembly (junior partner). In case of parliamentary twinnings for the implementation of most of the proposals political decisions are needed which can be done usually after finalisation of the project. However, in this Twinning Project the BiH Beneficiary Parliaments reacted in a very responsive and committed way to the Projects’ recommendations by delivering such political decision already in the lifetime of the project. In a Joint Statement (on the commitment of the Parliaments of Bosnia and Herzegovina towards the EU integration by taking measures to implement the recommendations of the EU funded Twinning Project for enhancing the role of parliaments in the EU integration context), adopted by the Collegiums of the State and Entity Parliaments and by the Assembly of Brčko District, the BiH



54

Parliaments decided that they implement the recommendations of the Twinning Project in customized Action Plans. Those Action Plans were elaborated by the Twinning Project in close cooperation with the Beneficiaries, and they were discussed and adopted by the responsible political bodies – the Collegiums of the State and Entity Parliaments and the Assembly of Brčko District – before the end of the Project, in late 2015. As a next step, the same parliamentary bodies incorporated the latest and final recommendations of the Twinning Project by updating the Action Plans in early 2016. This means that decision is taken on the implementation of the Project’s proposals, and the parliamentary administrations already started to implement those. However, one has to be aware – and it is also reaffirmed in the Action Plans –, that in most of the cases of the several hundreds of listed actions the implementation of the proposals requires time: in order to implement the key project proposals (e.g. establishment of a centralized, state-wide electronic database containing the translations of the EU legal acts, revision of the Rules of Procedures, adoption of a multiannual BiH-wide EU Communication Strategy, etc.) longer period, in several cases years are needed. This timeframe, however, can still be suited to the rhythm of the accession process, therefore one can be trusting that the BiH Parliaments will be able to fully prepare themselves to EU accession on the basis of the project proposals especially if further EU assistance will be provided to the implementation. There are several additional measurable impacts of the Twinning Project, especially as far as the awareness and the preparedness of the individuals is concerned. From one hand, the elaboration of the project recommendations was repeatedly conducted with extensive involvement of MPs and staff members of the Parliaments. Mostly 70-100 partners on behalf of the BC Parliaments were consulted and involved in the elaboration of the recommendations in each sub-component. In order to facilitate the transfer of the Twinning Project’s findings and recommendations incorporated to the Action Plans, they were translated into local language, then presented and distributed to the Parliaments’ MPs, party caucuses and staff members, both in the course of the Project, and also at the Project’s Closing Conference and other final activities. They were made available also on electronic platforms. Thus, the Parliaments are now and will be familiar with all the important tasks ahead and the Project’s proposed solutions for these challenges. As a special aspect of the Project’s impact shall be considered the established cooperation framework among the 4 Beneficiary Parliament of BiH. As told, before this Twinning Project there were scarce occasions that the four institutions work for a common specific purpose, assuming effective, day-by-day functional cooperation in operational issues with short time for reaction. The regular cooperation among the four Counterparts representing their Parliaments in the Steering Committee and the coordination events organized in Component 0 at the level of the political and administrative leaderships of the Parliaments have shown the way how forthcoming cooperation in EU integration issues should result: an inter-institutional success. An important impact was made on the level of knowledge of the staff on EU as general and the role of EU MS parliaments in particular. In the accession period and during membership the Parliaments have to rely on competent and independent sources of information provided by the staff. To this respect, the officials attended in large number – usually between 60 and 100 persons – one training activity. The attendants of the complex training programme (with more than 40 different trainings, 8 study visits and 2 internships) will certainly contribute to increase the quality of the administrative support in European affairs. Due to the Project, there is now a broad understanding among the staff



55

on how parliaments of EU Member States and former candidate countries deal with European affairs at the different stages of the integration in all the relevant fields (legislative, oversight, interparliamentary and information activities, further cooperation and coordination). The staff dealing with European affairs, legislation and information activities is disposing of the basic knowledge related to EU and parliamentary EU affairs. A visible impact of the project is that all the training materials prepared are available in local language via the internal networks of the Parliaments of BiH. Overall 16 publications were elaborated and published during the Project’s implementation: these were targeted the MPs and all the staff members, further external partners of the Beneficiaries, and made available in the Beneficiaries’ library and Visitors centres, too. This number includes a USB key which was prepared to be provided to all MPs and staff members aiming at easing to use the project results in everyday parliamentary work. The USB key contains all the key documents (including the Joint Statement, the Cooperation mechanism and the Concluding findings and recommendations of the Project Components) and all training manuals in local language elaborated during the Twinning Project, Nonetheless, the Twinning Project’s website provides publicly accessible general explanation on the BiH Parliaments and on their role in the EU integration. Under the web address www.bih-parliamentary-twinning.eu the information is available in four languages (BOS, CRO, SER and ENG) providing access to both for BiH citizens and the wider world even after the Project was closed. A very positive and long-standing impact is that the Twinning project has produced also indirect and not always measurable results: the intensive cooperation among MS experts of 13 MS national parliaments and the relevant staff of the BiH Parliaments has strengthened the ties and created an important network, first of all among the BiH, Hungarian and French partners, but also with the other participating experts from Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Romania and the United Kingdom. The definite purpose of the MS partners expressed in their twinning proposal to invite as many other Member States in the Project as possible has created fruitful long-standing relationships for the Parliaments of BiH. While this also contributed to the fulfilment of the other main approach of the MS Partner: the Project Team prepared recommendations to the BiH Parliaments which are based on the EU best practices, but are fully elaborated in order to be functional in the special constitutional set-up of Bosnia and Herzegovina so they are not a simple copy of any EU model, but specially designed for BiH use.



56

2F – FOLLOW-UP AND SUSTAINABILITY In the form of the Action Plans, adopted by the Collegiums of the State and Entity Parliaments and by the Assembly of Brčko District, the Project presented a clear itinerary on the steps to be taken and gave a detailed method for implementation. For each action included in the Action Plans is the format, the responsible body and the deadline for implementation is defined. All the important political and administrative level tasks were identified and clear solutions were offered. The Project gave a full description on how the Parliaments should operate at the different stages of the EU integration process which is a crucial impact. In this respect it should be emphasized that all the proposals were elaborated from the ambitious approach to reach European best practices. Since the recommendations were made always in harmony with the relevant BC partners, endorsed by substantial discussions ensuring full understanding, the project proposals can be easily followed and the decisions to be made. To provide a comprehensive oversight on the underlying reasoning and necessities on those recommendations, 6 Concluding Manuals were elaborated based on the original activity reports. Also, an evaluation of the Twinning training activities was conducted, along with a concluding capacity-building and training needs assessment, provided in the form of the 6.7 activity report. This summarizes the possible further, follow-up actions to be taken in terms of capacity-building, including recommendations to enhance the training management within the parliamentary administration for the sake of establishing firm professional background. The Project leadership and the MS experts received continuously valuable contribution from several high ranking MPs from all the Beneficiary Parliaments. Beyond the occasional consultations on with individual parliamentary leaders of all 4 Beneficiary Parliaments, the full leadership of all the 4 BiH Parliaments participated in the mid-term conference of the Project in Međugorje in March 2015. Substantial contributions were given by the political and administrative leaderships to the Project Team on the project recommendations, especially in regard on the cooperation framework among the Parliaments at the conference organized in Bijeljina in November 2015. On the conference on project results with Secretaries (General) the administrative leadership of the 4 Parliaments of BiH prepared and finalized the Action Plans and the document on the cooperation mechanism of the Parliaments of BiH in the EU integration process in mid-January 2016. The Concept on the cooperation mechanism was signed jointly by the BiH Parliaments’ leadership in late January 2016. Not only them but also other senior political personalities were consulted on the significant project developments and their opinion was asked when important proposals were made. The administrative leadership of the Parliaments of BiH, the Secretaries (General) were always consulted on the issues related to the organization of the staff. All the project proposals were discussed with the BC Project Leader, and regarding the proposals to the individual Parliaments all the Counterparts of the 4 Parliaments were consulted. In the cases related to particular organizational units, their heads and staff were also involved in the work. This involvement of the BC staff in the implementation of the Project makes it even more hopeful and realistic that the necessary decisions and implementing steps needed to put the achieved mandatory results in practise will be made and so the Project results will be fully utilized. From the point of view of sustainability it is worth underlining the efforts done to involve and inform the political leaders and also the administrative leadership of the highest level in the Project.



57

Both political and administrative leadership in all 4 Beneficiary Parliament showed a strong ownership on the achieved results and forthcoming actions. The staff of the Beneficiary Parliaments after having attended the extensive training programme expanded its knowledge on European issues which now can be broadly implemented in their everyday work. However, an important precondition of successful implementation of the new framework for the preparation of EU integration (Action Plans and Cooperation mechanism) is that responsible administrative structures, EU Units assist the implementation. The Project’s recommendations include methodology for functioning: structure, composition, recruitment, training, division of tasks and competences, further the methodology for coordination and consultation on EU related activities and linkage of EU Units. As by now, the first political and administrative decisions on establishment of those EU units (in BDA: EU adviser) were made in each Parliament, in NARS it even operates, however some further steps are required to make all those administrative units fully functional. In addition it seems necessary that – due to the complex nature of the recommendations and the huge work needed for their implementation – further EU assistance will be required especially in order to assist the implementation of the actions defined in the Action Plans and put them into regular practice. It is likely that with the current available capacities of the BiH Parliaments implementation of several actions might be quite difficult, therefore assisting by the EU to improve and further enhance these capacities will be especially important in the coming years of the accession process on one hand to keep the BiH Parliaments in the right track and on the other hand to significantly intensify their EU related activities. It is for sure, that when implemented, project results will serve for a long-term period. According to the practice of EU Member States if the system for parliamentary EU affairs is introduced, it operates without more serious changes for long years. The same is true for the organization of the parliamentary administration, once set up, usually it works in stability. Therefore it can be stated, that if the BiH Parliaments will adjust their legal and administrative system for the handling of EU affairs according to the project proposals, then the mandatory results can be sustained for a very long time.



58

2G – CONCLUSIONS Considering the complexity and the intensive implementation of the activities, the implementation of the Project can be considered to a large extent a success. All the activities were carried out, additional activities upon the request of the Beneficiaries were undertaken, and all the recommendations needed for the achievement of the mandatory results were elaborated as it was planned by the Twinning Contract. The MS experts ensured a valuable contribution in terms of expertise and availability. The participation of several MS experts from other EU national parliaments (not only the Hungarian and the French partners, but all in all from 13 Member States) ensured that the Project gave a really exhaustive overview on the best practices of EU parliaments. The Bosnian and Herzegovinian Counterparts cooperated in an efficient manner providing the MS experts with the necessary technical support and facilities. The staff of the Beneficiary Parliaments showed interest in the Project, also the highest level politicians and administrative leaders were available for the Project and produced evidence of their ownership. The partnership among MS and BC sides worked well, the mutual commitment was realized in a smooth and efficient cooperation. A constant and valuable cooperation was ensured by the EU Delegation as well. Based on the best practices of current EU parliaments the MS experts elaborated detailed recommendations for all the project components as the defined mandatory results required. As emphasized in earlier chapters of this report in all project Components the proposals made by the MS experts contain accurate and detailed suggestions. Along with the individualized Action Plans, already adopted by the Parliaments of BiH, they are ready and available for immediate use and implementation. With their implementation the BiH Parliaments would become capable to efficiently operate in the EU framework, assuming that additional crucial decisions will be taken on behalf of the executive branch and that the implementation of the recommendations will receive the necessary impetus from all side and all required resources will be mobilized. From this point of view the EU side will also have an important role to play in monitoring and supporting the implementation activities.



59

2H – FINAL RECOMMENDATIONS This Project showed the essential meaning of a successful twinning. The project partners worked in full cooperation and with strong commitment for the benefit of the BiH Parliaments and further of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The MS partners elaborated the project recommendations always after consulting all relevant BC partners. The MS partners did not want to force their own models to the BC counterpart but assisted to find the model for parliamentary EU affairs most fitting to Beneficiary Parliaments mirroring their particular situation, capacities and the governance level. From the very beginning it was clear that the partners are looking for solutions which best serves the interests of the 4 Parliaments and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Therefore all the project proposals take into consideration the best practices of EU Member States (and not only the Hungarian and the French system) and the political and constitutional factors, the governance level and everyday necessities of the respective Beneficiary at the same time. This approach made the successful implementation of the Project possible. The interest for understanding EU standards and best practices and the openness of the BiH partners to the proposals of the MS experts contributed also a large extent to the smooth implementation of the Project. This Project showed again that parliamentary twinning projects are different from governmental ones. The special nature of the combination of political and administrative actors and the variety of decision-makers (as far as political affiliations and positions are concerned) makes the consultations more complex, while especially in the implementation of mandatory results, it requires more time, since many decisions need to be made at political level and many times political consensus (or at least large majority support) is required. Although the results can serve in quite a sustainable manner, their implementation is definitely more time-consuming. As an overall statement, it can be emphasized that this project served a lot the interest of the 4 Parliaments of BiH, especially the cooperation among them, and contributed to their preparation for EU accession in a very significant manner, which shows that such parliamentary twinning is a very useful tool in enlargement countries. At the same time it has to be underlined that due to the fact that the implementation of the complex project proposals and the nature of parliamentary decision-making is time-consuming, and so longer timeframe is needed to put all project recommendations into practice, it is well worth to introduce in parliamentary twinning projects a longer and more active follow-up process after the strictly defined project implementation period, to monitor the implementation of the project results jointly by the EU Delegation and the implementing project partners. Further, in the special case of Bosnia and Herzegovina, it is worth to consider successive support in order to maintain and enhance further the achieved results, taking into regard the complex constitutional and institutional structures of the country.


60

2I – ANNEXES Annex 1: Overview of the mandatory results achieved

A C T I V I T Y

expected MANDATORY

RESULTS (Components)

Dea

dlin

e

Del

ay

+/-

expected BENCHMARKS

(Activities)

ASSESSMENT to date

Sel

f-as

sess

men

t H

S (

Hig

hly

satis

f.)

S (

Sat

isfa

ctor

y)

U (

Uns

atis

fact

ory)

No Title

CO

MP

ON

EN

T 0

: Pro

ject

kic

k-of

f and

clo

sing

eve

nts

0.1 Administrative Kick-off of the

project

Mon

th 1

No

del

ay

• RTA installed. • Component Leaders installed. • Project Office opened. • Kick-Off Event discussed and all necessary preparation

defined. • Administrative organizational procedures defined

• The benchmark was fully completed. HS

0.2 Kick-off event

Mo

nth

2

No

del

ay • Stakeholders, media and public informed about the

project. • Introductory leaflet and other visibility materials

produced and disseminated. • Press releases and media coverage.


0.3.

1 Roundtable for the Secretaries General of the BiH Parliaments

Mon

th 1

4

No

del

ay

• Proposals and recommendations of the project presented to the political stakeholders.

• The MS Project Leadership introduces and discusses the project’s available results with the Political Leaders of the BiH Parliaments.

• Conclusions drawn by MS Team based on the discussions to properly plan further activities in order to build up synergy in the implementation of the project recommendations and to achieve the mandatory results.

• Press releases and media coverage


0.3

Mid-Term Conference on project results with Political Leaders of the BiH Parliaments

Mon

th 1

4

2 m

ont

hs

• Proposals and recommendations of the project presented to the political stakeholders.

• The MS Project Leadership introduces and discusses the project’s available results with the Political Leaders of the BiH Parliaments.

• Conclusions drawn by MS Team based on the discussions to properly plan further activities in order to build up synergy in the implementation of the project recommendations and to achieve the mandatory results.




61

A C T I V I T Y

expected MANDATORY


Dea

dlin

e

Del

ay

+/-

expected BENCHMARKS

(Activities)

ASSESSMENT to date

Sel

f-as

sess

men

t H

S (

Hig

hly

satis

f.)

S (

Sat

isfa

ctor

y)

U (

Uns

atis

fact

ory)

No Title

0.4 Mid-term workshops for MPs of

newly elected Parliaments

Mon

th 1

3

No

del

ay • Training materials elaborated and disseminated to the

participants of the training. • Introductory leaflet and other visibility materials

disseminated


0.5

Concluding Conference on project results with Secretaries General of the BiH Parliaments

Mon

th 2

4

No

del

ay

• Proposals and recommendations of the project presented to the senior stakeholders.

• The MS Project Leadership introduces and discusses the project’s concluding results and recommendations with the administrative leadership of the BiH Parliaments.

• Conclusions drawn by MS Project Team for Final Report.



0.6 Closing Event

Mon

th 2

4

No

de

lay

• Results of the project presented to stakeholders, media and public.

• Conclusions to be used as a basis for Final Report. • Final leaflet, concluding manuals and other necessary

visibility materials produced and disseminated. • Press releases and media coverage


0.7.

1

Conference on Cooperation and Implementation of Actions to Enhance the Role of Parliaments in the EU Integration Process with Secretaries General of the BiH Parliaments

Mo

nth

22

No

del

ay

• Proposals and recommendations on the parliamentary cooperation framework and the Action Plans presented to the senior stakeholders.

• The MS Project Leadership introduces and discusses the project’s cooperation framework and the Action Plans with the senior administrative leaders of the BiH Parliaments.

• Conclusions drawn by MS Project Team for the cooperation framework, Action Plans and the Final Report.




62

A C T I V I T Y

expected MANDATORY


Dea

dlin

e

Del

ay

+/-

expected BENCHMARKS

(Activities)

ASSESSMENT to date

Sel

f-as

sess

men

t H

S (

Hig

hly

satis

f.)

S (

Sat

isfa

ctor

y)

U (

Uns

atis

fact

ory)

No Title

0.7

Conference on Cooperation and Implementation of Actions to Enhance the Role of Parliaments in the EU Integration Process with Political Leaders of the BiH Parliaments

Mon

th 2

2

No

de

lay

• Proposals and recommendations on the parliamentary cooperation framework presented to the Political Leaders.

• The MS Project Leadership introduces and discusses the project’s cooperation framework with the Political Leaders of the BiH Parliaments.

• Conclusions drawn by MS Project Team for the cooperation framework and the Final Report.



C O

M P

O N

E N

T 1

STRENGTHENING

CAPACITIES FOR

STRATEGIC GUIDANCE

OF THE EU ACCESSION

PROCESS AND DIALOGUE

WITH THE EUROPEAN

PARLIAMENT

Mechanism for planning and monitoring of the EU integration related work of Parliaments for EU integration is installed and functioning.

•

• The benchmark was completed. Mechanism is installed, everyday functioning requires longer timeframe

HS

Parliaments are knowledgeable of European practices on the role of parliaments in the EU and the accession process.


Regular consultation mechanism with EU coordinating structure (when established) is installed and functioning (alternative: participation of representatives of parliamentary assemblies in the EU coordinating structure is ensured).

• The benchmark was completed. Mechanism is installed, everyday functioning requires longer timeframe

HS


63

A C T I V I T Y

expected MANDATORY


Dea

dlin

e

Del

ay

+/-

expected BENCHMARKS

(Activities)

ASSESSMENT to date

Sel

f-as

sess

men

t H

S (

Hig

hly

satis

f.)

S (

Sat

isfa

ctor

y)

U (

Uns

atis

fact

ory)

No Title Working methods of Parliamentary Stabilisation and Association Committee established and support ensured.

• The Project elaborated and introduced the necessary suggestions.

S

1.1 Strengthening the resources and mechanisms available to MPs, parliamentary bodies and the chambers for strategic guidance of the EU accession process

1.1.

1

Assessment on resources and mechanisms available to MPs for strategic guidance of the EU accession process

Mon

th 4

No

de

lay

• Questionnaire prepared by MS experts and filled in by BC staff in advance to the activity.

• Interviews with heads of services and other senior staff.

• Interviews with MPs (committee chairs and other leading MPs).

• Interviews with heads of services and other senior staff in relevant government bodies.

• An assessment report drawn up by the MS experts which will serve as a comparative basis for further activities.

• 1 Hungarian, 1 Czech and 1 Polish expert conducted the activity.

• Consultations conducted with 25 BC MPs, staff members and senior staff from Government bodies.

• By finishing the activity, the reports of the activity were sent to BC.

• The benchmark was fully completed.

HS

1.1.

2 Guidelines session for improvement of support to MPs in the strategic guidance of the EU accession process

Mon

th 9

1 m

ont

h • Interviews and discussions taking into regard also the

assessment report and all developments in the meantime with heads of services and other senior staff, including also government bodies’ relevant senior staff.

• Interviews and discussions on assessment report and all developments in the meantime with MPs (committee chairs and other leading MPs).

• Guidelines report for improvement, drawn up by the MS experts in consultation with the authorities of the BC.


• 15 BC partners were consulted. • By finishing the activity, the reports of

the activity were sent to BC. • The benchmark was fully completed.

HS


64

A C T I V I T Y

expected MANDATORY


Dea

dlin

e

Del

ay

+/-

expected BENCHMARKS

(Activities)

ASSESSMENT to date

Sel

f-as

sess

men

t H

S (

Hig

hly

satis

f.)

S (

Sat

isfa

ctor

y)

U (

Uns

atis

fact

ory)

No Title

1.1.

3 Roundtable discussions on the Guidelines

for improvement of support to MPs in the strategic guidance of the EU accession process

Mon

th 1

0

No

del

ay • Roundtable discussions on the Guidelines with

involvement of MPs, senior parliamentary and government staff.

• Conclusion report drafted by MS experts based on the outcomes of the roundtable discussions.


• 27 BC partners participated in this roundtable.



HS

1.1.

4 Recommendations for improvement of

support to MPs in the strategic guidance of the EU accession process

Mon

th 1

0

No

del

ay

• Conclusion of the Sub-Component 1.1: comparison of the starting state of play and most important findings and developments during all the activities of Sub-Component 1.1.

• Interviews and discussions with heads of services and other senior staff, with MPs (committee chairs and other leading MPs) and government experts.

• Report drafted by MS experts containing the final proposals submitted to BC authorities.

• 2 Hungarian, 1 French and 1 Polish expert delivered the session.



HS

1.2 Training programme on best practices of EU member states and candidate countries on the role of parliaments and the support to MPs on EU-related issues

1.2.

1 Training on the role of national parliaments in EU decision-making

Mon

th 2

No

dela

y

• Training materials elaborated and disseminated to the participants of the training.

• Training manual elaborated and disseminated among the participants and other interested MPs and staff of the BC.

• 2 Hungarian, 1 Latvian and 1 expert representing the BENELUX Parliament delivered the session.

• 72 persons on behalf of the BC Parliaments participated in the seminar.



HS

1.2.

2 Training on the lessons learnt about the role of national parliaments in the accession process of recently joined Member States

Mon

th 3

No

del


participants of the training. • Training manual elaborated and disseminated among

the participants and other interested MPs and staff of the Parliaments.

• 1 Hungarian, 1 Croatian, 1 Estonian and 1 Polish expert delivered the session.

• 67 persons participated in this activity on behalf of the BC.



HS


65

A C T I V I T Y

expected MANDATORY


Dea

dlin

e

Del

ay

+/-

expected BENCHMARKS

(Activities)

ASSESSMENT to date

Sel

f-as

sess

men

t H

S (

Hig

hly

satis

f.)

S (

Sat

isfa

ctor

y)

U (

Uns

atis

fact

ory)

No Title

1.2.

3 Training on the experiences of recently

acceded Member States in the negotiations with the EU and on the parliamentary monitoring of the negotiations

Mon

th 4

No

del




• 1 Hungarian, 1 Polish, 1 Romanian and 1 Croatian expert delivered the session.

• 72 persons participated in this activity on behalf the BC.



HS

1.2.

4 Training on the tasks and organization of parliamentary administrations in the accession process

Mon

th 5

No

del




• 1 Hungarian, 1 Polis, 1 Czech and 1 Latvian expert delivered the session.




HS

1.2.

5 Study visit to Croatia for staff on the

experiences related to the activities in European affairs in the accession process

M

onth

5

+ 2

mo

nths

• Study visit programme discussed with the BC team. • BC participants to be trained and informed on the

relevant procedures in the MS. • Mission report drafted by the participants and

identification of the most relevant mechanisms to be transposed in BC

• 3 staff members participated in the delegation of the BiH Parliaments.

• 23 high level officials were consulted from the MS.

• The participants drafted the detailed mission report.


HS

1.2.

6 Internship in Hungary for staff on the tasks

of parliamentary administration in European affairs

Mon

th 5

+1

mon

th

• Internship programme discussed with the BC participants


• 16 high level officials were consulted from the MS, completed with further bilateral consultations according the specific interests of the participants..


• The benchmark was fully completed

HS


66

A C T I V I T Y

expected MANDATORY


Dea

dlin

e

Del

ay

+/-

expected BENCHMARKS

(Activities)

ASSESSMENT to date

Sel

f-as

sess

men

t H

S (

Hig

hly

satis

f.)

S (

Sat

isfa

ctor

y)

U (

Uns

atis

fact

ory)

No Title

1.3 Review of the strategic planning process of the Parliaments’ work and setting up mechanisms for joint planning of Parliaments’ work in EU integration

1.3.

1 Assessment of the strategic planning

process of the Parliaments’ work with special regard on EU-related Work Plans

Mon

th 2

0

+7

mon

ths



• Interviews with heads of services and other senior staff in relevant Government bodies.

• Interviews with MPs (relevant committee chairs and other leading MPs).

• An assessment report drawn up by the MS experts in consultation with the authorities of the BC which will serve as comparative basis for further activities.

• 1 Hungarian, 1 Polish and 1 Czech expert conducted the activity.

• Consultations conducted with 25 BC representatives.



HS

1.3.

2

Guidelines to improve the strategic planning process and establishing a regular parliamentary consultation mechanism and cooperation with the EU coordination mechanism at government level

M

onth

21

+7

mon

ths

• Interviews and discussions taking into regard also the assessment report and all developments in the meantime with heads of services and other senior staff, including also government bodies’ relevant senior staff.


• Guidelines report for improvement, drawn up by the MS experts in consultation with the authorities of the BC..





HS

1.3.

3

Roundtable discussions on the Guidelines to improve the strategic planning process and establishing a regular parliamentary consultation mechanism and cooperation with EU coordination mechanism at government level

Mon

th 2

1

+5

mon

ths • Roundtable discussions on the Guidelines with




• 25 BC representatives participated on the roundtables.



HS


67

A C T I V I T Y

expected MANDATORY


Dea

dlin

e

Del

ay

+/-

expected BENCHMARKS

(Activities)

ASSESSMENT to date

Sel

f-as

sess

men

t H

S (

Hig

hly

satis

f.)

S (

Sat

isfa

ctor

y)

U (

Uns

atis

fact

ory)

No Title

1.3.

4

Recommendations to improve the strategic planning process and establishing a regular parliamentary consultation mechanism and cooperation with EU coordination mechanism at government level

Mon

th 2

2

+5

mon

ths








HS

1.4 Setting up mechanisms to support the Stabilization and Association Parliamentary Committee (in the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and

Herzegovina)

1.4.

1 Assessment of the current institutional set-

up and capacity for support to the political cooperation with the European Parliament

M

onth

22

No

del

ay


• Interviews with parliamentary heads of services and other senior staff.

• Interviews with relevant MPs. • An assessment report drawn up by the MS experts

which will serve as a comparative basis for further activities

• 2 Hungarian, 1 Polish and 1 Croatian expert conducted the activity.




HS

1.4.

2 Training on the work of Association Joint

Parliamentary Committees with the European Parliament

Mon

th 1

5

-1 m

ont

h


• Training manual elaborated and disseminated among the participants and other interested MPs and staff of the Assembly


• 20 BC representatives participated on the training.



HS

1.4.

3 Guidelines for the working methods of the

Delegation of the PABiH in the Stabilization and Association Parliamentary Committee

Mon

th 1

5

-2 m

ont

hs

• Interviews and discussions taking into regard also the assessment report and the developments of the meantime with heads of services and other senior staff.

• Interviews and discussions on assessment report and all development in the meantime with MPs.






HS


68

A C T I V I T Y

expected MANDATORY


Dea

dlin

e

Del

ay

+/-

expected BENCHMARKS

(Activities)

ASSESSMENT to date

Sel

f-as

sess

men

t H

S (

Hig

hly

satis

f.)

S (

Sat

isfa

ctor

y)

U (

Uns

atis

fact

ory)

No Title

1.4.


and Recommendations for the working methods of the Delegation of the PABiH in the Stabilization and Association Parliamentary Committee

Mon

th 1

8

-3 m

ont

hs

• Roundtable discussions on the Guidelines with involvement of MPs and senior parliamentary staff.

• Conclusion of the Sub-Component 1.4: comparison of the starting state of play and most important findings and developments during all the activities of Sub-Component 1.4 with special regards on the conclusions of the roundtable discussions.

• Report drafted by MS experts containing the final proposals submitted to BC authorities


• 16 BC representatives consulted in the frame of the roundtable discussions.



HS

1.5

Training seminar and consultation for Brčko District Assembly on strategic guidance of the EU accession process

Mon

th 8

+3

mon

ths • Training materials elaborated and disseminated to the


the participants and other interested MPs and staff of the Parliaments

• 1 Hungarian, 1 Polish 1 Latvian and 1 Estonian expert conducted the activity.

• 16 BC representatives participated on the training.



HS

1.6

Concluding Manual on strengthening capacities for strategic guidance of the EU accession process and dialogue with the European Parliament. Publication of the Manual

M

onth

23

+2

mon

ths

• Elaboration and publication of the Concluding Manual containing the main results of Component 1

• 1 Latvian expert conducted the activity. • By finishing the activity, the reports of

the activity were sent to BC. • The publication was translated,

published then disseminated. • The benchmark was fully completed.

HS


69

A C T I V I T Y

expected MANDATORY


Dea

dlin

e

Del

ay

+/-

expected BENCHMARKS

(Activities)

ASSESSMENT to date

Sel

f-as

sess

men

t H

S (

Hig

hly

satis

f.)

S (

Sat

isfa

ctor

y)

U (

Uns

atis

fact

ory)

No Title

C O

M P

O N

E N

T 2

EN

HA

NC

ING

TH

E M

EC

HA

NIS

MS

AN

D C

AP

AC

ITY

FO

R L

EG

ISLA

TIV

E A

LIG

NM

EN

T

Terms of References (ToRs) of parliamentary working bodies are mapped in terms of responsibility of parliamentary working bodies for approximation with the acquis and implementation of the SAA/IA.


More efficient legislative techniques are introduced to the relevant BC authorities compared to baseline based on new or modified procedures and/or techniques.

• The benchmark was completed. New or modified procedures are elaborated, installing and functioning requires longer timeframe

HS

Better functioning approximation mechanisms are tested and introduced compared to baseline, based on new or modified procedures and/or techniques.

• The benchmark was completed. Mechanism is elaborated, everyday implementation requires longer timeframe.

HS

Guidelines for the enhancement of the e-tools supporting the legislation are elaborated.



70

A C T I V I T Y

expected MANDATORY


Dea

dlin

e

Del

ay

+/-

expected BENCHMARKS

(Activities)

ASSESSMENT to date

Sel

f-as

sess

men

t H

S (

Hig

hly

satis

f.)

S (

Sat

isfa

ctor

y)

U (

Uns

atis

fact

ory)

No Title

Parliaments are more familiar with European practices of legal approximation process


Well-functioning mechanism of information sharing with Council of Ministers/Governments of the approximation and legislative procedures for alignment with the acquis designed


2.1 Review of the legislative process and elaboration of guidelines to improve the practice of legislation

2.1.

1

Review of the current legislative process

Mon

th 2

No

del

ay






• 1 Hungarian, 1 French and 1 Belgian expert conducted the activity.

• 41 BC representatives were consulted. • By finishing the activity, the reports of


HS


71

A C T I V I T Y

expected MANDATORY


Dea

dlin

e

Del

ay

+/-

expected BENCHMARKS

(Activities)

ASSESSMENT to date

Sel

f-as

sess

men

t H

S (

Hig

hly

satis

f.)

S (

Sat

isfa

ctor

y)

U (

Uns

atis

fact

ory)

No Title

2.1.

2 Guidelines to improve the practice of legislation

Mon

th 3

No

del

ay

• Interviews and discussions on assessment report and all developments in the meantime with both parliamentary and government heads of services and other senior staff.


• Set of guidelines for improvement drawn up by the MS experts in consultation with the authorities of the BC.




HS

2.1.

3 Roundtable discussions on the Guidelines to improve the practice of legislation

Mon

th 4

No

del







HS

2.1.

4 Recommendations to improve the practice of legislation

Mon

th 5

No

de

lay

• Conclusion of the Sub-Component 2.1: comparison of the starting state of play and most important findings and developments during all the activities of Sub-Component 2.1






HS

2.2 Mapping the Terms of References (TORs) of parliamentary bodies in terms of approximation with the acquis and implementation of the SAA/IA


72

A C T I V I T Y

expected MANDATORY


Dea

dlin

e

Del

ay

+/-

expected BENCHMARKS

(Activities)

ASSESSMENT to date

Sel

f-as

sess

men

t H

S (

Hig

hly

satis

f.)

S (

Sat

isfa

ctor

y)

U (

Uns

atis

fact

ory)

No Title

2.2.

1

Analysis of the ToR of the committees at each governance level in light of their responsibility for approximation with the acquis and implementation of the SAA/IA

Mon

th 9

No

de

lay




• Interviews with senior staff in relevant government bodies.

• An assessment report drawn up by the MS experts which will serve as comparative basis for further activities.

• 1 Hungarian, 1 Polish and 1 Portuguese expert conducted the activity.



HS

2.2.

2 Guidelines for a Map of responsibilities of

the parliamentary bodies for specific areas of approximation with the acquis

Mon

th 1

3

+1

mon

th

• Interviews and discussions taking into regard also the assessment report and the developments of the meantime with heads of services and other senior parliamentary and governmental staff members.


• Guidelines report drawn up by the MS experts in consultation with the authorities of the BC.




HS

2.2.


and finalization of the Map of responsibilities of the parliamentary bodies for specific areas of approximation with the acquis

Mon

th 1

4

No

del

ay





• 42 BC representatives participated on the roundtable discussions.



HS

2.3 Designing new/amended mechanisms including setting up compliance check for the amendments that are submitted in the legislative procedure by the MPs and/or for

the draft laws prepared by the relevant parliamentary proponent


73

A C T I V I T Y

expected MANDATORY


Dea

dlin

e

Del

ay

+/-

expected BENCHMARKS

(Activities)

ASSESSMENT to date

Sel

f-as

sess

men

t H

S (

Hig

hly

satis

f.)

S (

Sat

isfa

ctor

y)

U (

Uns

atis

fact

ory)

No Title

2.3.

1 Review of the installed mechanisms for compliance check practices

Mon

th 2

No

de

lay






• 1 Hungarian, 1 Polish and 1 Latvian, expert conducted the activity.



HS

2.3.

2 Guidelines for enhancing the process of legal approximation

Mon

th 5

No

del

ay

• Interviews and discussions, taking into regard also the assessment report and the developments of the meantime with heads of services and other senior staff, including also government bodies’ relevant senior staff.


• Guidelines report for improvement, drawn up by the MS experts in consultation with the authorities of the BC..




HS

2.3.

3 Roundtable discussions on the Guidelines for enhancing the process of legal approximation

Mon

th 6

No

del





• 52 BC partners participated on the roundtable discussions.



HS

2.3.

4 Practical exercise of the Guidelines for enhancing the process of legal approximation

Mo

nth

10

+ 2

mo

nths

• Training materials elaborated and disseminated to the participants of the workshop.

• In the framework of the workshop joint work of MS and BC parliamentary and other experts on the practical approximation exercise.

• Conclusion report drafted by MS experts on experiences of the exercise.


• 70 BC representatives participated on the practical exercise.



HS


74

A C T I V I T Y

expected MANDATORY


Dea

dlin

e

Del

ay

+/-

expected BENCHMARKS

(Activities)

ASSESSMENT to date

Sel

f-as

sess

men

t H

S (

Hig

hly

satis

f.)

S (

Sat

isfa

ctor

y)

U (

Uns

atis

fact

ory)

No Title

2.3.

5 Drafting a manual on Parliaments’ procedure for legal approximation with the acquis

Mon

th 1

0

+ 1

mo

nth

• Conclusion of the Sub-Component 2.3: the most important findings and the recommendations related to the legal approximation will be elaborated.




• Further 3 BC partners were consulted. • By finishing the activity, the reports of


2.4 Training Programme on Legal Approximation

2.4.

1

Workshop on legislative techniques and legislative drafting

Mon

th 2

No

del

ay


• Training manual elaborated and disseminated among the participants and other interested MPs and staff of the Parliaments.

• 1 Hungarian, 1 French, 1 UK, and 1 Belgian expert conducted the activity.

• 103 staff members from the BC Parliaments participated in the workshop.



HS

2.4.

2

Workshops on legislative programming and prioritization of legal approximation tasks

Mon

th 4

No

del

ay



• 1 Hungarian, 1 Czech,, 1 UK, and 1 Belgian expert conducted the activity.




HS


75

A C T I V I T Y

expected MANDATORY


Dea

dlin

e

Del

ay

+/-

expected BENCHMARKS

(Activities)

ASSESSMENT to date

Sel

f-as

sess

men

t H

S (

Hig

hly

satis

f.)

S (

Sat

isfa

ctor

y)

U (

Uns

atis

fact

ory)

No Title

2.4.

3 Workshops on parliamentary approximation process and tasks

Mon

th 8

No

del

ay



• 1 Hungarian, 1 Latvian, 1 Estonian and 1 Belgian expert conducted the activity.




HS

2.4.

4

Workshop on approximation case studies

Mon

th 9

No

del

ay



• 1 Hungarian, 1 Czech and 1 Estonian expert conducted the activity.




HS

2.4.

5 Study visit to Poland for staff on legal approximation process

M

onth

9

No

del

ay



identification of the most relevant mechanisms to be transposed in BC


• 16 high level MS officials were consulted.



HS

2.5 Setting up guidelines on the e-support of the legislative and approximation process

2.5.

1

Review of the current e-mechanisms to support the legislative process

Mon

th 9

No

del

ay


• Interviews with heads of services and other senior staff. • Interviews with MPs (relevant committee chairs and

other leading MPs). • An assessment report drawn up by the MS experts in

consultation with the authorities of the BC which will serve as comparative basis for further activities.

• 1 Hungarian, 1 Portuguese and 1 Latvian, expert conducted the activity.



HS


76

A C T I V I T Y

expected MANDATORY


Dea

dlin

e

Del

ay

+/-

expected BENCHMARKS

(Activities)

ASSESSMENT to date

Sel

f-as

sess

men

t H

S (

Hig

hly

satis

f.)

S (

Sat

isfa

ctor

y)

U (

Uns

atis

fact

ory)

No Title

2.5.

2 Guidelines for developing the e-tools

support in the legislative and approximation process

Mon

th 1

0

- 1

mon

th

• Interviews and discussion taking into regard also the assessment report and all development in the meantime with heads of services and other senior staff members.

• Interviews and discussion on assessment report and all development in the meantime with MPs (committee chairs and other leading MPs).



• 94 BC staff members participated on the training, further 7 BC partners were consulted.



HS

2.5.

3 Roundtable discussions and finalization of

the guidelines for enhancing the application of e-tools in the legislative and approximation process

Mon

th 1

1

- 2

mon

ths • Roundtable discussions on the Guidelines with

involvement of the relevant stakeholders of the Parliaments of BiH.

• Guidelines finalized by MS experts based on the outcomes of the roundtable discussions


• 53 BC partners participated on the roundtable discussions.



HS

2.6 Training seminar and consultation for

Brčko District Assembly on legislative process and legal approximation

M

onth

9

+1

mo

nth



• 1 Hungarian, 1 Polish, 1 Czeh and 1 Belgia expert conducted the activity.

• 21 persons participated on the training seminar on behalf of the BC.



HS

2.7 Concluding Manual on enhancing the

mechanisms and capacity for legislative alignment. Publication of the Manual

Mon

th 1

6

No

del

ay

• Elaboration and publication of the Concluding Manual containing the main results of Component 2.




HS

2.8 Monitoring support to the implementation

of recommendations of Component 2

Mon

th 2

2

No

del

ay

• Monitoring interviews with MPs, heads of services and other senior staff on the implementation of project recommendations of Component 2.

• Analysis of adopted documents and implemented procedures.

• Evaluation report with further recommendations.

• 1 Hungarian expert conducted the activity.

• 13 partners were consulted in this activity on behalf the BC.



HS


77

A C T I V I T Y

expected MANDATORY


Dea

dlin

e

Del

ay

+/-

expected BENCHMARKS

(Activities)

ASSESSMENT to date

Sel

f-as

sess

men

t H

S (

Hig

hly

satis

f.)

S (

Sat

isfa

ctor

y)

U (

Uns

atis

fact

ory)

No Title

C O

M P

O N

E N

T 3

OV

ER

SIG

HT

OF

TH

E G

OV

ER

NM

EN

T, O

F

SU

PE

RV

ISO

RY

AN

D R

EG

ULA

TO

RY

BO

DIE

S A

ND

IMP

RO

VIN

G C

OO

PE

RA

TIO

N W

ITH

GO

VE

RN

ME

NT

ON

TH

E E

U A

CC

ES

SIO

N

PR

OC

ES

S

More effective oversight mechanisms vis-à-vis Governments are introduced compared to baseline.

• The benchmark was completed. Mechanism is elaborated, full implementation requires longer timeframe.

HS

More effective oversight mechanisms related to supervisory and regulatory bodies are introduced compared to baseline.

• The benchmark was completed. Mechanism is elaborated, full implementation requires longer timeframe.

HS

Parliaments are more familiar with European standards in oversight activities.


Research capabilities of the administrative staff are strengthened compared to baseline based on new or modified procedures and methods.

• The benchmark was completed. Procedures and methods are elaborated, full implementation requires longer timeframe.

HS

3.1 Improving the oversight activities of Parliaments vis-á-vis governments with special regard to the EU accession process


78

A C T I V I T Y

expected MANDATORY


Dea

dlin

e

Del

ay

+/-

expected BENCHMARKS

(Activities)

ASSESSMENT to date

Sel

f-as

sess

men

t H

S (

Hig

hly

satis

f.)

S (

Sat

isfa

ctor

y)

U (

Uns

atis

fact

ory)

No Title

3.1.

1

Review of the oversight practices and reporting mechanisms by governments with special regard to the EU accession process

Mon

th 2

No

de

lay






• 1 Hungarian, 1 French and 2 Portuguese expert conducted the activity.

• 48 partners were consulted on behalf the BC.



HS

3.1.

2 Guidelines to improve oversight practices

and reporting mechanisms by governments with special regard to the EU accession process

Mon

th 3

No

del

ay

• Interviews and discussions taking into regard the assessment report and the developments in the meantime with heads of services and other senior staff, including also government bodies’ relevant senior staff.




• 23 partners were consulted on behalf the BC.



HS

3.1.

3

Roundtable discussions on the Guidelines and Recommendations to improve oversight practices and reporting mechanisms by governments with special regard to the EU accession process

Mon

th 6

+ 1

mo

nth





• 50 representatives of the BC Parliaments participated on the roundtable discussions.



HS

3.2 Seminar for MPs and parliamentary staff on parliamentary oversight in parliaments of EU Member States


79

A C T I V I T Y

expected MANDATORY


Dea

dlin

e

Del

ay

+/-

expected BENCHMARKS

(Activities)

ASSESSMENT to date

Sel

f-as

sess

men

t H

S (

Hig

hly

satis

f.)

S (

Sat

isfa

ctor

y)

U (

Uns

atis

fact

ory)

No Title

3.2.

1 Review of the oversight practices related to supervisory and regulatory bodies

Mon

th 1

7

+ 8

mo

nths




• Interviews with heads of services and other senior staff in relevant supervisory and regulatory bodies.

• An assessment report drawn up by the MS experts which will serve as comparative basis for further activities




HS

3.

2.2 Guidelines to improve oversight practices

related to supervisory and regulatory bodies

Mon

th 1

8

+ 7

mo

nths

• Interviews and discussions taking into regard also the assessment report and the developments in the meantime with heads of services and other senior staff, including also relevant supervisory and regulatory bodies’ senior staff.




• Further 8 BC representatives were consulted.



HS

3.2.


and recommendations to improve oversight practices related to supervisory and regulatory bodies

Mon

th 1

8

+ 5

mo

nths



• Report drafted by MS experts containing the final proposals submitted to BC authorities


• 52 BC representatives participated on the roundtable discussions.



HS

3.3 Training programme on parliamentary oversight and on the application of oversight instruments in the parliaments of the EU Member States


80

A C T I V I T Y

expected MANDATORY


Dea

dlin

e

Del

ay

+/-

expected BENCHMARKS

(Activities)

ASSESSMENT to date

Sel

f-as

sess

men

t H

S (

Hig

hly

satis

f.)

S (

Sat

isfa

ctor

y)

U (

Uns

atis

fact

ory)

No Title

3.3.

1

Workshops on the oversight functions of the plenary

Mon

th 4

No

de

lay



• 1 Hungarian, 1 French, 1 UK and 1 Portuguese expert conducted the activity.

• 71 MPs and staff members of the BC Parliaments participated on the workshops.



HS

3.3.

2 Workshops on the oversight functions of

the parliamentary standing committees and inquiry committees

Mon

th 5

- 1

mon

th



• 1 Hungarian, 1 French, 1 UK and 1 Portuguese expert conducted the activity.




HS

3.3.

3

Workshops on the oversight of supervisory and regulatory bodies

Mon

th 1

0

No

del

ay



• 1 Hungarian, 1 French, 1 Belgian and 1 Portuguese expert conducted the activity.




HS

3.3.

4 Study visit to France for MPs on oversight activities

Mon

th 1

6

No

del

ay



identification of the most relevant mechanisms to be transposed in BC.

• 9 MPs and 1 staff member participated in the delegation of the BiH Parliaments.

• 20 MPs and high level MS officials were consulted.



HS


81

A C T I V I T Y

expected MANDATORY


Dea

dlin

e

Del

ay

+/-

expected BENCHMARKS

(Activities)

ASSESSMENT to date

Sel

f-as

sess

men

t H

S (

Hig

hly

satis

f.)

S (

Sat

isfa

ctor

y)

U (

Uns

atis

fact

ory)

No Title

3.4 Strengthening the research capacities of the Palriaments of BiH as a major pillar of more effective oversight activities

3.4.

1

Assessment of current research capacities of the Parliaments in BiH

Mon

th 6

- 2

mon

ths


• Interviews with heads of services and other senior staff. • Interviews with MPs (relevant committee chairs and

other leading MPs). • An assessment report drawn up by the MS experts in

consultation with the authorities of the BC which will serve as comparative basis for further activities.

• 1 Hungarian, 1 Polish and 1 UK expert conducted the activity.



HS

3.4.

2

Training on improving research capacities

Mon

th 8

- 3

mon

ths



• 1 Hungarian, 1 French, 1 Polish and 1 UK expert conducted the activity.

• 78 MPs and staff members participated on the training.



HS

3.4.

3

Guidelines to improve the research capacities of the Parliaments of BiH

Mon

th 1

3

No

del

ay

• Interviews and discussions taking into regard the assessment report and all developments in the meantime with heads of services and other senior staff.

• Interviews and discussion on assessment report and all developments in the meantime with MPs (committee chairs and other leading MPs).


• 2 Hungarian and 1 Polish expert conducted the activity.



HS


82

A C T I V I T Y

expected MANDATORY


Dea

dlin

e

Del

ay

+/-

expected BENCHMARKS

(Activities)

ASSESSMENT to date

Sel

f-as

sess

men

t H

S (

Hig

hly

satis

f.)

S (

Sat

isfa

ctor

y)

U (

Uns

atis

fact

ory)

No Title

3.4.

4

Recommendations to improve the research capacities of the Parliaments of BiH

Mon

th 1

5

No

del

ay


• Interviews and discussions on guidelines and all development in the meantime with heads of services, other senior staff and MPs (committee chairs and other leading MPs).


• 1 Hungarian, 1 Polish and 1 UK expert conducted the activity.

• 48 representatives of the BC Parliaments participated on the roundtable sessions.



HS

3.5

Training seminar and consultation for Brčko District Assembly on parliamentary oversight

Mon

th 9

- 1

mon

th



• 1 Hungarian, 1 French, 1 Portuguese and and 1 Czech expert conducted the activity.

• 12 MPs and staff members participated on the training seminar.



HS

3.6

Concluding Manual on oversight activities. Publication of the Manual

Mon

th 2

1

+ 5

mo

nths




• The publication was translated, published then disseminated.


HS

3.7 Monitoring support to the implementation

of recommendations of Component 3

Mo

nth

22

No

del

ay

• Monitoring interviews with MPs, heads of services and other senior staff on the implementation of project recommendations of Component 3.

• Analysis of adopted documents and implemented procedures.

• Evaluation report with further recommendations.





HS


83

A C T I V I T Y

expected MANDATORY


Dea

dlin

e

Del

ay

+/-

expected BENCHMARKS

(Activities)

ASSESSMENT to date

Sel

f-as

sess

men

t H

S (

Hig

hly

satis

f.)

S (

Sat

isfa

ctor

y)

U (

Uns

atis

fact

ory)

No Title

C O

M P

O N

E N

T 4

INC

RE

AS

ING

PA

RT

ICIP

AT

ION

OF

CIV

IL S

OC

IET

Y A

ND

VIS

IBIL

ITY

OF

TH

E R

OLE

OF

PA

RLI

AM

EN

TS

IN T

HE

EU

AC

CE

SS

ION

PR

OC

ES

S

Parliamentary EU integration communication strategy adopted and implementation started.

•

• The Project elaborated and introduced the necessary recommendations.

Adoption of strategy and its implementation will require longer timeframe and enhanced resources.

S

Mechanisms for CSOs participation in Parliament’s activities related to the EU accession process established and practiced.

• The Project elaborated and introduced the

recommendations. Establishment and practicing requires longer timeframe.

S

Parliaments are knowledgeable regarding the parliamentary communication activities and involvement of CSOs into parliamentary work.


HS

Mechanism for sharing of information among Parliaments aiming at an electronic EU-resource centre is elaborated.


4.1 Creating an EU Communication Strategy for Parliaments of BiH

4.1.

1

Review of current EU communication activities

Mon

th 2

No

del

ay






• 3 Hungarian experts conducted the activity.

• 43 partners wer consulted on behalf the BC.



HS


84

A C T I V I T Y

expected MANDATORY


Dea

dlin

e

Del

ay

+/-

expected BENCHMARKS

(Activities)

ASSESSMENT to date

Sel

f-as

sess

men

t H

S (

Hig

hly

satis

f.)

S (

Sat

isfa

ctor

y)

U (

Uns

atis

fact

ory)

No Title

4.1.

2

Guidelines to develop EU Communication Strategy for Parliaments of BiH

Mon

th 3

No

del

ay





• 19 partners wer consulted on behalf the BC.



HS

4.1.

3 Roundtable discussions on the Guidelines and developing EU Communication strategy for Parliaments of BiH

Mon

th 1

6

No

de

lay

• Roundtable discussions on the Guidelines with involvement of MPs, senior parliamentary and government staff, EUD and NGOs.

• Conclusion of the Sub-Component 4.1: developing EU Communication strategy for Parliaments of BiH with special regards on the conclusions of the roundtable discussions.



• 50 representatives of the BC participated on the roundtable discussions.



HS

4.2 Implementation of the EU Communication Strategy

4.2.

1 Publishing brochures, booklets and other materials

Mo

nth

18

+ 2

mo

nths

• Publication of information materials on parliamentary practices and activities related to the EU accession process.


• 8 persons were consulted on behalf of the BC.



HS

4.2.

2 Workshops on the mechanisms and

procedures on the involvement of CSOs into parliamentary work

Mon

th 2

3

No

del


participants of the workshop and roundtables. • Summary manual elaborated and disseminated among





HS


85

A C T I V I T Y

expected MANDATORY


Dea

dlin

e

Del

ay

+/-

expected BENCHMARKS

(Activities)

ASSESSMENT to date

Sel

f-as

sess

men

t H

S (

Hig

hly

satis

f.)

S (

Sat

isfa

ctor

y)

U (

Uns

atis

fact

ory)

No Title

4.2.

3

Elaborating and publishing e-content on the role of parliaments in the accession process

Mon

th 2

2

+ 6

mo

nths

• Interviews and discussions with relevant BC parliamentary staff.

• Elaboration of e-content on the role of parliaments in the accession process.

• Materials published on-line on the websites of the Parliaments on parliamentary practices and activities related to the EU accession process.

• 1 Hungarian and 1 Latvian expert conducted the activity.




HS

4.3 Installing mechanisms for participation of CSOs in EU related issues

4.3.

1

Assessment of current provisions and practices for CSOs involvement in parliamentary activities related to the EU accession process

M

onth

14

No

de

lay





• Interviews with representatives of CSOs. • An assessment report drawn up by the MS experts

which will serve as comparative basis for further activities.





HS

4.3.

2 Guidelines on involvement of CSOs in

parliamentary activities related to the EU accession process

Mon

th 1

7

No

del

ay



• Interviews with representatives of CSOs. • Guidelines report for improvement, drawn up by the

MS experts in consultation with the authorities of the BC.





HS


86

A C T I V I T Y

expected MANDATORY


Dea

dlin

e

Del

ay

+/-

expected BENCHMARKS

(Activities)

ASSESSMENT to date

Sel

f-as

sess

men

t H

S (

Hig

hly

satis

f.)

S (

Sat

isfa

ctor

y)

U (

Uns

atis

fact

ory)

No Title

4.3.

3

Roundtable discussions on the Guidelines on involvement of CSOs in parliamentary activities related to the EU accession process

Mon

th 1

8

- 2

mon

ths

• Roundtable discussions on the Guidelines with involvement of MPs, senior parliamentary and government staff, representatives of CSOs



• 44 persons participated on the roundtable discussions on behalf of the BC.



HS

4.3.

4 Recommendations to improve the

involvement of CSOs in parliamentary activities related to the EU accession process

Mon

th 2

0

- 2

mon

ths

• Interviews and discussions on all development in the meantime with heads of services and other senior staff, with MPs (committee chairs and other leading MPs) and CSOs.

• Report drafted by MS experts containing proposals submitted to BC authorities.





HS

4.4 Follow-up seminar on good practices and findings from the roundtable with staffers

4.4.

1 Workshops on parliamentary communication activities and communication strategies

Mon

th 1

5

- 2

mon

ths



• 1 Hungarian, 1 Portuguese and 1 UK expert conducted the activity.

• 46 persons participated on the workshops on behalf of the BC.



HS

4.4.

2

Organisation of workshops for Media, Youth and CSOs representatives on the role of the parliaments in the EU accession process

Mon

th 1

7

- 3

mon

ths



• 1 Hungarian, 1 French, 1 Portuguese and 1 Czech expert conducted the activity.




HS


87

A C T I V I T Y

expected MANDATORY


Dea

dlin

e

Del

ay

+/-

expected BENCHMARKS

(Activities)

ASSESSMENT to date

Sel

f-as

sess

men

t H

S (

Hig

hly

satis

f.)

S (

Sat

isfa

ctor

y)

U (

Uns

atis

fact

ory)

No Title

4.4.

3 Study visit to Portugal for staff on

parliamentary communication activities and involvement of CSOs into parliamentary work

Mon

th 2

1

No

del

ay








HS

4.5 Developing an electronic EU resource centre (Parliamentary Parliaments of BiH)

4.5.

1

Design of the electronic EU resource centre

Mo

nth

18

No

del

ay

• Interviews and consultations with heads of services and other senior staff.

• Report with recommendations drawn up by the MS experts.

• 2 Hungarian and 1 Romanian expert conducted the activity.

• 5 partners were consulted on behalf of the BC.



HS

4.5.

2 Developing modes for sharing information

among Parliaments through the electronic EU resource centre

Mon

th 2

0

No

del

ay

• Interviews and consultations with relevant parliamentary staff members.

• Report with recommendations drawn up by the MS experts.


• 5 partners were consulted on behalf of the BC.



HS

4.5.

3 Specific on-the-job-trainings for maintenance and use of the EU resource centre

Mon

th 2

0

- 1

mon

th

• Consultations and interactive exchange in the real working environment of relevant parliamentary staff members.

• Activity report with recommendations drawn up by the MS experts.


• 41 BC representatives participated on the activity.



HS


88

A C T I V I T Y

expected MANDATORY


Dea

dlin

e

Del

ay

+/-

expected BENCHMARKS

(Activities)

ASSESSMENT to date

Sel

f-as

sess

men

t H

S (

Hig

hly

satis

f.)

S (

Sat

isfa

ctor

y)

U (

Uns

atis

fact

ory)

No Title

4.6

Training seminar and consultation for Brčko District Assembly on parliamentary communication activities and involvement of CSOs into parliamentary work

Mon

th 1

7

- 1

mon

th


• Training manual elaborated and disseminated among the participants and other interested MPs and staff of the BC.

• 1 Hungarian, 1 French, 1 Czech and 1 Croatian expert conducted the activity.



• The guidelines was published and distributed.


HS

4.7

Concluding Manual on communication and civil society related activities. Publication of the Manual

Mon

th 2

1

- 1

mon

th





HS


89

A C T I V I T Y

expected MANDATORY


Dea

dlin

e

Del

ay

+/-

expected BENCHMARKS

(Activities)

ASSESSMENT to date

Sel

f-as

sess

men

t H

S (

Hig

hly

satis

f.)

S (

Sat

isfa

ctor

y)

U (

Uns

atis

fact

ory)

No Title

C O

M P

O N

E N

T 5

DE

VE

LOP

ING

RE

GU

LAR

CO

OP

ER

AT

ION

AN

D

CO

OR

DIN

AT

ION

AM

ON

G T

HE

PA

RLI

AM

EN

TA

RY

AS

SE

MB

LY O

F B

OS

NIA

AN

D

HE

RZ

EG

OV

INA

, PA

RLI

AM

EN

T O

F R

EP

UB

LIK

A

SR

PS

KA

, PA

RLI

AM

EN

T O

F F

ED

ER

AT

ION

OF

BO

SN

IA A

ND

HE

RZ

EG

OV

INA

AN

D T

HE

BRČ

KO

DIS

TR

ICT

AS

SE

MB

LY O

N E

U-R

ELA

TE

D IS

SU

ES

Specific fora for the key areas of the acquis are established with participation of responsible committees and parliamentary administration departments.


Cooperation mechanism was adopted, everyday functioning requires longer

timeframe.

HS

The activities of the Forum of EU integration committees are enhanced.


Mechanism of regular consultation and coordination for agreement by parliamentary chairs and heads of parliamentary administrations on priorities related to EU-integration elaborated


Cooperation mechanism was adopted, everyday functioning requires longer

timeframe.

HS


90

A C T I V I T Y

expected MANDATORY


Dea

dlin

e

Del

ay

+/-

expected BENCHMARKS

(Activities)

ASSESSMENT to date

Sel

f-as

sess

men

t H

S (

Hig

hly

satis

f.)

S (

Sat

isfa

ctor

y)

U (

Uns

atis

fact

ory)

No Title

Staff and MPs of the Parliaments knowledgeable about the operation of the European Union and the role of national parliaments and their committees in the accession and so capable of providing more technical input in EU-related parliamentary work


5.1 Review of the current activities of parliamentary standing committees in EU-related issues and establishing fora of parliamentary committees on different EU policies

with regular information- sharing and coordination mechanisms

5.1.

1 Assessment of the operation of standing

committees with special regard on EU-related activities

Mon

th 1

5

No

del

ay






• 1 Hungarian, 1 Belgian and 1 Polish expert conducted the activity.



HS

5.1.

2

Guidelines to identify coordination mechanisms for different areas of the acquis, the participating responsible committees, parliamentary administrative departments and relevant ministries

Mon

th 1

6

No

del

ay







HS


91

A C T I V I T Y

expected MANDATORY


Dea

dlin

e

Del

ay

+/-

expected BENCHMARKS

(Activities)

ASSESSMENT to date

Sel

f-as

sess

men

t H

S (

Hig

hly

satis

f.)

S (

Sat

isfa

ctor

y)

U (

Uns

atis

fact

ory)

No Title

5.1.

3 Roundtable discussions on the guidelines to

identify coordination mechanisms for different areas of the acquis

Mon

th 1

7

No

del

ay

• Roundtable discussions on the Guidelines with involvement of MPs, senior parliamentary and government staff.



• 29 persons participated on behalf of the BC.



HS

5.1.

4 Setting up regular information-sharing and coordination mechanisms for fora of parliamentary committees

Mon

th 1

8

- 2

mon

ths

• Conclusion of the Sub-Component 5.1: comparison of the starting state of play and most important findings and developments during all the activities of Sub-Component 5.1

• Interviews and discussions on the Guidelines and all developments in the meantime with heads of services and other senior staff, with MPs (committee chairs and other leading MPs) and government experts.





HS

5.2 Enhancing the Forum of EU integration committees

5.2.

1

Analysing current activities and operation of the Forum of EU integration committees

Mon

th 1

1

+ 7

mo

nths

• Questionnaire prepared by MS experts and filled in by

BC staff in advance to the activity. • Interviews with parliamentary heads of services and

other senior staff. • Interviews with MPs (committee chairs and other

leading MPs). • Interviews with heads of services and other senior staff

in relevant government bodies, further with competent CSOs.


• 3 Hungarian, 1 Latvian and 1 Portuguese expert conducted the activity.



HS


92

A C T I V I T Y

expected MANDATORY


Dea

dlin

e

Del

ay

+/-

expected BENCHMARKS

(Activities)

ASSESSMENT to date

Sel

f-as

sess

men

t H

S (

Hig

hly

satis

f.)

S (

Sat

isfa

ctor

y)

U (

Uns

atis

fact

ory)

No Title

5.2.

2 Recommendations for improved working

methods for the activities and operation of the Forum of EU integration committees

Mon

th 1

4

+ 8

mo

nths

• Interviews and meetings on discussing the results of the assessment report and further developments in the meantime with relevant heads of services, other senior staff and MPs (committee chairs and other leading MPs).


• 2 Hungarian, 1 Latvian and 1 Portuguese expert conducted the activity.



HS

5.3 Installing regular consultation and coordination among parliamentary chairs and parliamentary administrations on EU-related issues

5.3.

1

Guidelines to improve working methods for regular consultations and coordination and setting EU-related priorities

Mo

nth

20

- 1

mon

th

• Interviews and discussions on the results of Sub-Component 5.1 and 5.2 and all relevant results of Components 1, 2 and 3 and also the developments in the meantime with MPs (committee chairs and other leading MPs), heads of services and other senior staff, including also government bodies’ relevant senior staff.


• 1 Hungarian, 1 Belgian and 1 Portuguese expert conducted the activity.



HS

5.3.

2

Roundtable discussions on the Guidelines to improve working methods for regular consultations and coordination and setting EU-related priorities

Mon

th 2

2

No

de

lay




• 25 BC participated in the activity. • By finishing the activity, the reports of


HS

5.3.

3 Recommendations to improve working

methods for regular consultations and coordination and setting EU-related priorities

Mon

th 2

3

No

del

ay


• Further interviews and discussions with heads of services, other senior staff and MPs (committee chairs and other leading MPs).





HS


93

A C T I V I T Y

expected MANDATORY


Dea

dlin

e

Del

ay

+/-

expected BENCHMARKS

(Activities)

ASSESSMENT to date

Sel

f-as

sess

men

t H

S (

Hig

hly

satis

f.)

S (

Sat

isfa

ctor

y)

U (

Uns

atis

fact

ory)

No Title

5.4 Training programme on the role of standing committees in the European integration and approximation process

5.4.

1 Workshops for standing committees on coordination with Government in European integration affairs

Mon

th 1

5

No

de

lay



• 1 Hungarian, 1 French, 1 UK and 1 expert representing the BENELUX Parliaments conducted the activity.




HS

5.4.

2 Workshops for standing committees on communication tasks in European integration affairs

Mo

nth

15

No

del

ay



• 1 Danish, 1 Croatian and 1 Latvian expert conducted the activity.




HS

5.4.

3

Workshops for standing committees on their role in legal approximation

Mon

th 1

6

No

del

ay



• 1 Hungarian, 1 Polish, 1 Latvian and 1 Czech conducted the activity.




HS

5.4.

4

Study visit to Hungary for Members of standing committees on the role of standing committees in the European integration and approximation process

Mon

th 1

7

+ 2

mo

nths




• 9 MPs and 1 staff member participated in the delegation of the BiH Parliaments.




HS


94

A C T I V I T Y

expected MANDATORY


Dea

dlin

e

Del

ay

+/-

expected BENCHMARKS

(Activities)

ASSESSMENT to date

Sel

f-as

sess

men

t H

S (

Hig

hly

satis

f.)

S (

Sat

isfa

ctor

y)

U (

Uns

atis

fact

ory)

No Title

5.5 Training programme on the role of European Integration Committees

5.5.

1

Workshops on the operation (legal status, tasks and challenges) of the Committees on European Affairs of the recently acceded Member States during the association and accession periods

Mon

th 1

3

- 1

mon

th



• 1 Hungarian, 1 Polish, 1 Latvian,. 1 Estonian and 1 Croatian expert conducted the activity.




HS

5.5.

2

Workshops on the role of the European Affairs Committees in the Parliaments of the European Union

Mo

nth

15

No

del

ay



• 1 Danish, 1 UK, 1 Portuguese and 1 Belgian expert conducted the activity.




HS

5.5.

3

Study visit to Belgium for Members of European Integration Committees on the coordination mechanisms among different level of Parliaments and committees in European affairs

Mon

th 2

1

+ 1

mo

nth




• 8 MPs and 2 staff members participated in the delegation of the BiH Parliaments.




HS

5.5.

4 Internship to officials of European

Integration Committees to Latvia on the role of EU Committee

Mon

th 9

No

del

ay

• Internship programme discussed with the BC participants.

• BC participants to be trained and informed on the relevant procedures in the MS.

• Internship report drafted by the participants and identification of the most relevant mechanisms to be transposed in BC.





HS


95

A C T I V I T Y

expected MANDATORY


Dea

dlin

e

Del

ay

+/-

expected BENCHMARKS

(Activities)

ASSESSMENT to date

Sel

f-as

sess

men

t H

S (

Hig

hly

satis

f.)

S (

Sat

isfa

ctor

y)

U (

Uns

atis

fact

ory)

No Title

5.6

Training seminar and consultation for Brčko District Assembly on the role of standing committees and the European Integration Committee in the accession process

Mon

th 1

5

No

del

ay



• 1 Hungarian, 1 Polish, 1 Lithuanian and 1 Croatian expert conducted the activity.

• 12 persons participated on the training on behalf of the BC.



HS

5.7

Coordination roundtable discussions / seminars on specific issues related to EU acquis chapters or other issues of common relevance for all parliaments

Mon

th 2

3

No

del

ay

• Roundtable discussions with seminars on specific issues related to EU acquis chapters or other issues of common relevance with the participation of MPs of relevant committees.

• Training materials elaborated and disseminated to the participants.


• 4 Hungarian and 1 Croatian expert conducted the activity implemented in 2 Parts.



HS

5.8

Concluding Manual on cooperation and coordination among Parliaments of BiH on EU-related activities. Publication of the Manual

M

onth

23

- 1

mon

th




• The publication was translated, published then disseminated.


HS

C O

M P

O N

E N

T

6

RA

ISIS

ING

CA

PA

CIT

Y

OF

MP

s A

ND

PA

RLI

AM

EN

TA

RY

ST

AF

F

A training plan for Parliaments and specific training plans for each Parliament are designed on the basis of performed training needs assessment.


Generic (basic and advanced) EU training modules and specific training modules for areas of acquis are delivered.



96

A C T I V I T Y

expected MANDATORY


Dea

dlin

e

Del

ay

+/-

expected BENCHMARKS

(Activities)

ASSESSMENT to date

Sel

f-as

sess

men

t H

S (

Hig

hly

satis

f.)

S (

Sat

isfa

ctor

y)

U (

Uns

atis

fact

ory)

No Title

Training activities evaluated and future training activities proposed.


6.1 Training Needs Assessment and development of Training Plan

6.1.

1

Training Needs Assessment

Mon

th 3

No

del

ay


• Interviews with relevant heads of service, other senior staff and focus group meetings with staff members.

• An assessment report drawn up by the MS experts serving as basis for future activities.




HS

6.1.

2 Designing a training plan (general training plan and specific training plans for the specific Parliaments)

Mon

th 9

+ 3

mo

nths

• Interviews and meetings with leaders of parliamentary administrations, heads and staff of administrative services and other senior staff.

• Further analysis of the results of the TNA. • Report drafted by MS experts on proposed training

plan.




HS

6.2 General training module on EU


97

A C T I V I T Y

expected MANDATORY


Dea

dlin

e

Del

ay

+/-

expected BENCHMARKS

(Activities)

ASSESSMENT to date

Sel

f-as

sess

men

t H

S (

Hig

hly

satis

f.)

S (

Sat

isfa

ctor

y)

U (

Uns

atis

fact

ory)

No Title

6.2.

1

Seminars on institutional system and decision-making mechanisms of the EU

Mon

th 2

No

del

ay




• 70 persons participated on the seminars on behalf of the BC.



HS

6.2.

2

Seminars on EU law

Mon

th 3

No

del

ay



• 2 Hungarian and 1 French expert conducted the activity.




HS

6.2.

3

Workshops on EU databases and EU-related research techniques

Mon

th 1

1

+ 1

mo

nth



• 1 Hungarian, 1 French, 1 Polish and 1 expert representing IPEX conducted the activity.

• 85 persons participated on the activity on behalf of the BC.



HS

6.2.

4 Seminars on foreign and security policy

and external relations of the EU, and on the framework of EU enlargement process

Mon

th 6

No

del

ay







HS

6.2.

5 Training on practical aspects of EU related research

Mon

th 2

4

No

del

ay


• Training report elaborated and disseminated among the participants and other and staff of the Parliaments

• 1 Croatian expert conducted the activity.




HS


98

A C T I V I T Y

expected MANDATORY


Dea

dlin

e

Del

ay

+/-

expected BENCHMARKS

(Activities)

ASSESSMENT to date

Sel

f-as

sess

men

t H

S (

Hig

hly

satis

f.)

S (

Sat

isfa

ctor

y)

U (

Uns

atis

fact

ory)

No Title

6.3 Specific training module for separate areas of the acquis

6.3.

1 Workshops on the free movement of goods, persons, capital and services

Mon

th 1

2

- 2

mon

ths







HS

6.3.

2 Workshops on Freedom, Security and Justice, Fundamental rights, and Anti-corruption

Mon

th 1

3

- 2

mon

ths







HS

6.3.

3 Workshops on Regional policy and

structural instruments, Agriculture and rural developments, Social policy and employment

Mon

th 1

3

- 3

mon

ths







HS

6.3.

4 Workshops on Transport, Energy, Environment, Consumer and health protection, Food safety

Mon

th 1

4

- 4

mon

ths







HS


99

A C T I V I T Y

expected MANDATORY


Dea

dlin

e

Del

ay

+/-

expected BENCHMARKS

(Activities)

ASSESSMENT to date

Sel

f-as

sess

men

t H

S (

Hig

hly

satis

f.)

S (

Sat

isfa

ctor

y)

U (

Uns

atis

fact

ory)

No Title

6.3.

5 Workshops on Trade and customs,

Competition, Public Procurement, Electronic communications and information society, Education and science

Mon

th 1

6

- 4

mon

ths







HS

6.4 Training on project design and

implementation

Mon

th 4

No

del

ay







HS

6.5

Training seminar for Brčko District Assembly on the functioning of the EU and the EU acquis

M

onth

10

- 2

mon

ths







HS

6.6 Study visit to European Institutions

(Brussels, Belgium) for staff

Mon

th 1

0

+ 1

mo

nth





• 14 high level officials of EU institutions were consulted.



HS

6.7

Evaluation of the Twinning Project’s training activities and conclusions for future training activities

Mon

th 2

1

No

del

ay

• Evaluation questionnaire prepared by MS experts and filled in by BC staff in advance to the activity.





HS


100

A C T I V I T Y

expected MANDATORY


Dea

dlin

e

Del

ay

+/-

expected BENCHMARKS

(Activities)

ASSESSMENT to date

Sel

f-as

sess

men

t H

S (

Hig

hly

satis

f.)

S (

Sat

isfa

ctor

y)

U (

Uns

atis

fact

ory)

No Title

6.8 Publication of the Consolidated Training

Manuals of the Twinning Project’s training activities

Mon

th 2

1

- 1

mon

th

• Interviews with relevant heads of service, other senior staff and focus group meetings with staff members.




HS

C O

M P

O N

E N

T 7

IMP

RO

VIN

G IN

TE

RN

AL

RE

SO

UR

CE

S

MA

NA

GE

ME

NT

Recommendations for developing sound human resources management

policies provided


Trainings incorporated in human resources policies

• The Project elaborated and introduced the necessary suggestions.

S

Strategic plans for EU integration adopted for

each parliament


Guidelines for improving parliamentary budget

management issued and implemented

• The Project elaborated and introduced the guidelines. Implementation requires longer timeframe.

S

7.1 Improving human resources management


101

A C T I V I T Y

expected MANDATORY


Dea

dlin

e

Del

ay

+/-

expected BENCHMARKS

(Activities)

ASSESSMENT to date

Sel

f-as

sess

men

t H

S (

Hig

hly

satis

f.)

S (

Sat

isfa

ctor

y)

U (

Uns

atis

fact

ory)

No Title

7.1.

1

Review of current human resources management practice

Mon

th 3

No

de

lay


• Interviews with leaders of the administrations, staff of human resources services and heads and senior colleagues from other relevant services, counterparts in relevant governmental authorities.


• 1 Hungarian, 1 French and 1 Polish expert conducted the activity.




HS

7.1.

2 Workshop on human resources

management practices of EU Member States’ Parliaments

Mon

th 5

No

del

ay


• Training manual elaborated and disseminated among the participants and other interested invitees.


• 81 persons participated on this workshop on behalf the BC.



HS

7.1.

3 Guidelines to improve human resources management practice

M

onth

9

No

del

ay

• Interviews and meetings on discussing the results of the assessment report and further developments in the meantime with relevant heads of services and other senior staff.






HS

7.1.

4 Roundtable discussions and

Recommendations on the Guidelines to improve human resources management practice

Mon

th 1

0

No

del

ay

• Roundtable discussions on the Guidelines with involvement of the relevant stakeholders of the Parliaments of BiH with the staff of human resources services and heads, senior colleagues from other relevant services.

• Recommendation report drafted by MS experts.


• 57 persons participated on the roundtable discussions.



HS

7.1.

5

Incorporation of trainings in human resources management policies

Mon

th 1

2

No

del

ay

• Interviews and discussions on the outcomes of the activities of this Sub-Component 7.1 and the results of Component 6 with the staff of human resources services and heads and senior colleagues from other relevant services, counterparts in relevant governmental authorities.

• Recommendation report drafted by MS experts.





HS


102

A C T I V I T Y

expected MANDATORY


Dea

dlin

e

Del

ay

+/-

expected BENCHMARKS

(Activities)

ASSESSMENT to date

Sel

f-as

sess

men

t H

S (

Hig

hly

satis

f.)

S (

Sat

isfa

ctor

y)

U (

Uns

atis

fact

ory)

No Title

7.2 Developing a Strategic Plan for EU Integration for each parliamentary administration

7.2.

1 Elaboration of Interim Report and Action Plan for enhancing the role of Parliaments in the EU integration process

Mon

th 2

0

No

del

ay



• Interviews with MPs. • Interviews with heads of services and other senior staff

in relevant government bodies. • An assessment report drawn up by the MS experts

which will serve as comparative basis for further activities.


• 10 BC partner was consulted in this activity.



HS

7.2.

2 Action Plan for enhancing the role of

Parliaments in the EU integration process based on the first results of the Twinning Project

M

onth

24

No

del

ay

• Interviews and meetings on discussing the results of the assessment report and further developments in the meantime with relevant heads of services and other senior staff.






HS

7.3 Improving parliamentary budget management


103

A C T I V I T Y

expected MANDATORY


Dea

dlin

e

Del

ay

+/-

expected BENCHMARKS

(Activities)

ASSESSMENT to date

Sel

f-as

sess

men

t H

S (

Hig

hly

satis

f.)

S (

Sat

isfa

ctor

y)

U (

Uns

atis

fact

ory)

No Title

7.3.

1 Assessment of current legislative and procedural arrangement and practices related to parliamentary budget

Mon

th 1

6

No

de

lay






• 1 French, 1 Danish and 1 Portuguese expert conducted the activity.




HS

7.3.

2 Workshop on parliamentary budget management practices of EU Member States

Mon

th 1

6

- 1

mon

th




• 63 persons participated on the workshops.



HS

7.3.

3 Drafting guidelines for planning and

management of parliamentary budgets in Entity Parliaments and Brčko District Assembly

Mon

th 1

8

- 3

mon

ths

• Interviews and discussions taking into regard the assessment report and the developments in the meantime with heads of services and other senior staff.







HS

7.3.


for planning and management of parliamentary budgets in Entity Parliaments and Brčko District Assembly

Mon

th 2

0

- 2

mon

ths


• Workshop on the introduction of relevant EU best practices in Brčko District Assembly.






HS


104

A C T I V I T Y

expected MANDATORY


Dea

dlin

e

Del

ay

+/-

expected BENCHMARKS

(Activities)

ASSESSMENT to date

Sel

f-as

sess

men

t H

S (

Hig

hly

satis

f.)

S (

Sat

isfa

ctor

y)

U (

Uns

atis

fact

ory)

No Title

7.3.

5 Recommendations for planning and

management of parliamentary budgets for each Entity Parliament and Brčko District Assembly

Mon

th 2

1

- 2

mon

ths

• Interviews and discussions on the Guidelines and all development in the meantime with heads of services, other senior staff and MPs (committee chairs and other leading MPs).






HS

7.4 Study visit to France for staff on internal

resources management

Mon

th 1

7

No

del

ay





• 15 high level officials of the MS institution were consulted.



HS

7.5 Concluding Manual on improving internal

resources management

Mon

th 2

1

- 2

mon

ths

• Elaboration and publication of the Concluding Manual containing the main results of Component 7, also in line with the requirements identified in other Components.




HS

FINAL REPORT Twinning Contract number BA 12 IB JH 01OT 01

105

Section 3: Expenditure Annex 2: Expenditures Please find the Final Financial Report - Twinning Project BA 12 IB JH 01 in a separate file.

Date 26 May 2016

For the administration of the Member State

………………………………………………………….. Mr Zoltán Horváth MS Project Leader on behalf of the Consortium, Hungarian National Assembly

For the administration of the BC

……………………………………………………………... Mr Omar Filipovi ć BC Project Leader on behalf of the Beneficiary Parliaments

annex iii ba 12 ib jh 01 final report...final report twinning contract number ba 12 ib jh 01...

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