“Review of the situation and lessons learned from the screening meetings on acquis of the European Union – public administration reform”, was the topic of the workshop held on 14 and 15 May in Sarajevo, as part of the project “Cooperation of public institutions for EU integration” implemented by the German Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationole Zusammenarbeit (GlZ) in cooperation with the Directorate for European Integration of BiH.
The workshop, which brought together representatives of all levels of government, presented materials from the explanatory screening for Albania and Macedonia, as well as Moldova and Ukraine, as well as the steps that await Bosnia and Herzegovina in this process, in the area of public administration reform.
Dr Aleksandar Andrija Pejović, GIZ expert, emphasized that in accordance with the 2020 EU enlargement methodology, six negotiation clusters have been formed covering several negotiation chapters, and that public administration reform has been included in the first cluster, which represents the basis of the accession process and the cluster on which progress in the negotiations will depend. He concluded that Bosnia and Herzegovina will have to prepare several roadmaps, including one in the field of public administration reform, and added that this document represents a political vision of progress and commitment of the state in a particular area, a set of measures that the state will implement in order to progress towards membership in the Union.
Assistant Director of the Directorate for European Integration, Darija Ramljak, stressed the importance of timely and quality preparation of the administration for the upcoming phases of the negotiation process, emphasizing the need to strengthen the administrative capacities of institutions involved in the explanatory and bilateral screening.
On 21 March 2024, the European Council gave its approval for the opening of accession negotiations between Bosnia and Herzegovina and the European Union. Bosnia and Herzegovina is facing an analytical review and assessment of the alignment of its legislation with the EU acquis (screening). In the first phase of screening, the European Commission presents the Union’s regulations to the candidate countries, while in the next phase the candidate country must present its legislation and institutional capacities and demonstrate the extent to which it is aligned with EU regulations and standards.
Screening is the phase preceding the opening of negotiations with the EU, and represents the basis for developing the negotiating position of the candidate country, and at the same time the basis for the member states to develop a common negotiating position of the EU. 
From the Public Administration Reform Coordinator’s Office, the workshop was attended by: Deputy State Coordinator Amira Mašović, Head of the Unit for Donor Coordination, Finance, Monitoring and Evaluation Aneta Raić, Head of the Operational Unit Nedžib Delić and Expert Advisor for Sector Reforms Aldijana Omeragić.