KOŠARAC: AREAS OF CLIMATE AND NATURAL GAS – CONSTITUTIONAL COMPETENCE OF SRPSKA AND FBiH

SARAJEVO, NOVEMBER 14 /SRNA/ - Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers Staša Košarac rejected as unacceptable the European Commission’s interpretation regarding the implementation of certain steps from the Reform Agenda and the Reform List for BiH, emphasizing that the areas of climate and natural gas fall under the constitutional competence of Republika Srpska and the Federation of BiH, not the BiH level.

Košarac told SRNA that, according to that interpretation, certain adjustments would need to be made in steps related to activities in the fields of climate and natural gas, which is contrary to the constitutional competencies in BiH.

"We will not support this, because the areas of climate and natural gas fall under the constitutional authority of Republika Srpska and the Federation of BiH, not the BiH level. We will never agree to EU integration if it means diminishing Republika Srpska’s constitutional powers and seizing its competencies", Košarac said.

He emphasized that the primary task is to defend and preserve the constitutional position of Republika Srpska.

"We stand by the text of the Reform Agenda and the Reform List, which the Council of Ministers adopted at its 62nd extraordinary session. This text was also submitted to the European Commission as BiH’s official position", Košarac said.

He reminded that this is a text adopted based on the positions of Republika Srpska’s institutions and reflects the constitutional distribution of competencies in BiH.

"I have informed the Directorate for Economic Planning about this, which communicates with the European Commission on these matters", Košarac added.