REGIONAL MEETING ON FISCAL DECENTRALIZATION HELD IN SARAJEVO

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (April 8,2008) – The work group for fiscal decentralization of the network of local and regional authorities of the southeastern Europe (NALAS) organized in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo a meeting attended by experts from 12 countries.

The goal of the meeting was to help local authorities in securing adequate sources of financing which is in accordance with their competences and needs.

Executive director of the municipalities and cities union of the FBiH entity Vesna Travljanin stated that the countries in the region have extremely good cooperation of the local authorities associations which could serve as example to higher levels of authority.

Considering that municipalities and cities in countries in transition, but also in countries with developed democracy, meet with similar problems, that is often receive duties for which funds are not secured and today’s meeting was a good opportunity to exchange experiences and propositions.

Travljanin gave the example from the FBiH entity .On Friday the law on demobilized soldiers was to be discussed, according to which part of assets, around 22 million Bosnian Marks was supposed to be transferred to municipalities, that is taken from the assets gained from taxes.

"We reacted as a union, we sent a letter to the entity prime minister, alarmed the media… We said that this is not the competence of municipalities and that there are no assets for this and that they cannot give competences which are not followed by adequate assets”, she stated and added that for now this proposition was withdrawn.

She added that it is often said the local government in BiH is not regulated neither with entity nor state constitution.

"We fight for local self government to be finally recognized and that the local level influences the changes in the constitution. All packages of constitutional changes which were discussed did not include the local level”, stated Travljanin.
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