BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA BETWEEN DAYTON AND BRUSSELS

After numerous appeals for reform from the international community and the pro-reform part of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian public, in 2006 the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina proposed that the Parliamentary Assembly as the constituent assembly adopt constitutional amendments in the first stage of constitutional reform. By means of these amendments, traditional state responsibilities would be transferred to the central State and the House of Representatives as the representative body of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian populace systemically empowered. At the same time, the responsibilities of the House of Peoples as the representative body of Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs as constituent peoples would be limited, the Council of Ministers as the central organ of the executive power would be established, and the responsibilities of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina would be limited. All these changes would contribute to the more efficient and stable operation of Bosnian-Herzegovinian institutions. According to the proposed amendments, all matters relating to the European Union would be within the exclusive competence of central institutions. Despite intense efforts by the international community, the House of Representatives was unable to achieve the two-thirds majority of votes required for the adoption of the proposed amendments; at the same time, key political parties rejected the "Butmir Package of Constitutional Amendments" prepared by the representatives of the USA and EU in 2009. Thus, especially following the publication of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the EU and Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Official Journal of the European Union at the beginning of 2011, the appeals for the adoption of constitutional amendments became increasingly topical and visible.