EU Info Centre successfully organized a panel discussion dedicated to dialogue within civil society

At the EU Info Centre in Sarajevo today at a panel discussion titled “Civil dialogue in the Region and BiH – Trends and Practice” representatives of civil society, NGOs and  represe...

At the EU Info Centre in Sarajevo today at a panel discussion titled “Civil dialogue in the Region and BiH – Trends and Practice” representatives of civil society, NGOs and  representatives of the media, had the opportunity to learn more about the policies of the European Union, as well as become familiar with examples of civil dialogue in the Western Balkans.

Attendees were addressed by Dr. Dragan Golubović, international expert on civil dialogue, Džemal Hodžić, programme manager in the Development of Civil Society and Labour and Employment Sector at the EU Delegation to BiH, Goran Kučera, expert in the BiH Ministry of Justice, and Midhat Džemić, Head of Department for Bilateral Assistance of the European Union in Directorate for European Integration.

According to Dr. Golubović, civil dialogue in the region, which implies the participation of citizens and civil society organizations in the process of articulating policy, is significant for several reasons.

“Primarily this dialogue promotes improvement in the quality of public policies and their efficient implementation. Second, it is one of the conditions on the road to full EU membership, given its association with the concept of democracy and human rights – as well as efficient and transparent administration, which is one of the priorities of the European Commission in the Enlargement Strategy for 2014. Finally, civil dialogue becomes an important element of programming projects to be financed under the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA II), which stipulates the obligation of appropriate consultations with civil society and other private actors before determining sectoral priorities,” said Dr. Golubović.

On the basis of the European Commission Progress Report on Bosnia and Herzegovina for 2014, active dialogue within civil society is one of the major challenges for BiH in its pre-accession phase.

“The EU Delegation to BiH so far invested around two million euros to strengthen civil dialogue, and plans to invest an additional 900,000 euros in this topic to be implemented in the next three years. Institutionalized dialogue between the public and government institutions is the foundation of any healthy democracy. Through dialogue, citizens, non-governmental organizations and informal groups have the opportunity to influence decision-making processes, policies and strategies relating to these groups. Also, through dialogue authorities provide additional legitimacy of their work,” said Mr. Hodžić.

This is also the first in a series of panel discussions organised by the EU Info Centre on various topics important for the path of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the European Union.

The EU Info Centre is a project funded by the European Union and aims to increase understanding among the BiH citizens of the EU, its institutions, policies and programmes and the relations between BiH and the EU.