Meeting with Gavrilo Grahovac, Federal Minister of Culture and Sport and Ramiz Mehmedagić, Federal Minister of Regional Planning and the  Environment

Agenda:

1.       Implementation of funds for the renovation and protection of individual properties of the cultural and architectural heritage, pursuant to the Decision on the programme for the expenditure of funds with criteria for the allocation of funds from current transfers determined by the Budget of the Federation of  BiH to the Federal Ministry of Culture and Sport (Official Gazette of FBiH no. 13/03), in conformity with the Law on the Implementation of Decisions of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments;

2.       Legislative framework for the implementation of Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, its status, and the method of implementation;

3.       Problems relating to inspections and the professional, independent functioning of the Federal inspectorate in the area of the enforcement of Annex 8.

Meeting was held on 23.09.2003 at 10:00.in the Federal Ministry of Culture and Sport.

The meeting was attended by Gavrilo Grahovac, Federal Minister of Culture and Sport, with members of staff (Sabira Husedžinović, adviser to the Minister; Mirela Šečić, chef de cabinet, and Džihad Pašić, director of the Institute for the Protection of Monuments, part of the Federal Ministry of Culture and Sport); Ramiz Mehmedagić, Federal Minister of Regional Planning and the  Environment; Vadim Kuznetsov, deputy High Representative and senior adviser; Amra Hadžimuhamedović, Chair of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments; Dubravko Lovrenović, member of the Commission; Tina Wik, member of the Commission, and members of staff (Mirela Mulalić Handan, Executive Officer, and Damir Bačvić, technical coordinator).

1.  Implementation of funds for the renovation and protection of individual properties of the cultural and architectural heritage, pursuant to the Decision on the programme for the expenditure of funds with criteria for the allocation of funds from current transfers determined by the Budget of the Federation of  BiH to the Federal Ministry of Culture and Sport (Official Gazette of FBiH no. 13/03), in conformity with the Law on the Implementation of Decisions of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments;

It is the responsibility of the Ministry of Culture and Sport – director  of the Institute for the Protection of Monuments, to ensure as a matter of urgency that application be made in the prescribed manner, in compliance with the Decisions of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments, to the Federal Ministry of Regional Planning and the Environment for approval to be issued for all the national monuments for which the Federal Ministry of Culture proposed to invite tenders, including those for which tenders had already been invited or contracts signed.  If necessary, those attending the meeting would work together to ensure that the problem was overcome as simply as possible within the framework of existing legislative provisions.  The owners of national monuments are responsible for observing the provisions of the law stipulating the manner in which monuments are to be protected, but must not be excluded from the process of negotiating contracts with the contractors who will carry out the works, since it is they above all who are responsible for the monuments of which they are the owners.  It was also resolved that it would be helpful if representatives of the Ministry of Regional Planning and the  Environment and of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments be included in the commissions formed to determine the terms and conditions of invitations to tender and appraise bids, in every case when tenders are invited for national monuments.

2.  Legislative framework for the implementation of Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, its status, and the method of implementation;

a) Affirmation of the responsibility for the consistent application of the harmonized Laws on the Implementation of Decisions of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments, the essence of which cannot under any circumstances be altered or amended. 

b) Revision of the existing draft State-level Heritage Protection Bill.  

The Federal Ministry of Culture and Sport and the Federal Ministry of  Regional Planning and the Environment will each appoint one person to the working group, which will operate under the auspices of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments and will produce a revised version of the working text of the BiH Heritage Bill by the end of the year.

3. Problems relating to inspections and the professional, independent functioning of the Federal inspectorate in the area of the enforcement of Annex 8.

In future improvements will be made to the work of the inspectorate in the implementation of Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and close cooperation will be established between the Commission and the Federal Inspectorate.  The inspector will issue a ruling without delay for all the properties that the Commission has designated as endangered, for which the Commission has submitted to the inspectorate a request or follow-up.

The Commission to Preserve National Monuments will prepare an analysis of the implementation of Annex 8, with proposed protection measures and the reasons why more funds should be provided for the protection of the heritage.  The document will be submitted to the Ministry of Culture and Sport, which will use it as the basis for drafting a projected budget for 2004, which it will forward to the Government of FBiH together with the Commission's document.  If the Ministry considers it necessary, the Commission will prepare additional elucidations and explanations in support of the application to allocate more funds in the budget of the Government of the Federation of BiH for the implementation of Annex 8.