Fourth workshop of “Supporting BiH on its way to the EU” successfully concluded
To read the post in Slovene click here.
In the framework of the project “Supporting BiH on its way to the EU”, Centre for the European Perspective (CEP), in cooperation with the Directorate for European Integration of Bosnia and Herzegovina (DEI), carried out the fourth workshop on selected chapters of the acquis for civil servants, working at competent authorities, with Slovenian experts sharing their experiences and good practices in the field of conflict of interest, especially in its regulation, detection and prevention.
The workshop took place between 16 and 17 November 2020.
The two-day online workshop, moderated by Ms Katja Geršak, Executive Director of Centre for European Perspective (CEP), began with the introductory remarks by H.E. Ms Zorica Bukinac, Ambassador of the Republic of Slovenia in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Ms Maja Rimac Bjelobrk, Assistant Director in Division for Communication and Training in the Field of European Integration at the Directorate for European Integration, Bosnia and Herzegovina, who remarked upon the importance of the theme of the workshop and emphasized the need for the reform of the legislation for the regulation of conflict of interest.
The importance of this topic was also mentioned in the European Commission working document ‘Bosnia and Herzegovina Report 2020’ accompanying the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions from 6 October 2020. The document states that Bosnia and Herzegovina is at an early stage with public administration reform and judiciary reform, but has made no progress in adopting a comprehensive law on prevention of conflict of interest, in line with international standards. You can read the report here.
Monday sessions focused on the ‘Regulation of conflicts of interest’ by Mr Roman Prah, AC and Integrity consultant and on ‘Detection and prevention of conflict of interests’ by Mr Gregor Pirjevec, Anti-Corruption expert.
Sessions of the second day focused on best practices and Bosnian system of conflict of interest prevention and practical recommendations by Dr Jure Škrbec, Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) and case studies presented by Mr Prah, Mr Pirjevec and Dr Škrbec.
Dr Škrbec presented the best practices and legislative solutions from the region and beyond and compared them with BiH practice and their legislation. Through the prepared case studies of different circumstances of conflict of interest, the workshop participants were then led to find the best solution to the cases.
The aim of the project is to provide training for civil servants, working at competent authorities at all levels of the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and therefore contribute to advanced knowledge of civil servants working in the field of European integration. The inclusion of BiH into the European integration processes is one of the priorities set out in the basic guidelines of BiH’s foreign policy. The four trainings provided were focused on topics highlighted by the Directorate for European Integration of BiH as priority areas in the period 2019 and 2020.
For more about the workshop → Workshop 16.-17.11. ‘Supporting BiH on its way to the EU’
The project is part of the CEP program activities, which are supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia in the scope of Slovenia’s Development Cooperation.