ZAGREB, 1 June 2022 - The European People's Party (EPP) adopted a resolution at its conference in Rotterdam on Wednesday, calling for electoral and constitutional reforms in Bosnia and Herzegovina in line with decisions by international courts and the BiH Constitutional Court.

The "emergency resolution", tabled by the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) calls for "electoral reforms to be addressed swiftly in an inclusive manner while complying with the requirements of EU membership."

As the largest group in the European Parliament the EPP believes that it is necessary to implement "electoral and constitutional reforms, in line with both EU principles and international and constitutional court decisions, which includes the equality of (Bosnia and Herzegovina's) three constituent people, others and all citizens."

As a positive example, the resolution cites the agreement between political parties to hold local elections in Mostar in December 2020 which, it says, underlined "the multicultural reality of BiH."

The EPP welcomed a recent visit by European Council President Charles Michel to Sarajevo.

The resolution notes that "in the context of the drastically deteriorated security environment in Europe," caused by Russia's aggression against Ukraine, the Union "must prevent possible new negative scenarios and make efforts to steer the Southeast Europe towards accelerated acceptance of fundamental European values."

The EPP condemned any questioning of BiH's territorial integrity and sovereignty and any unconstitutional secessionist actions, calling for the blockade of state institutions to be lifted.

"The EPP supports political dialogue which must be given priority over blocking the most important political processes and reforms," the resolution notes.

After an agreement was achieved on the text of the resolution, a number of media outlets in Sarajevo said on Tuesday evening that the term "legitimate representatives", as proposed in the HDZ's original draft, was removed, which they interpreted as a defeat of the policy pursued by the HDZ and the HDZ BiH.

The leaders of the largest Croat and Bosniak parties in BiH, Dragan Čović (HDZ BIH) and  Bakir Izetbegović (SDA) respectively, attended the conference.

Their parties are EPP candidates so their delegates could not vote, and both leaders expressed appreciation for the resolution but put emphasis on different elements.

"The EPP has called for an urgent reform of the election law in line with international rulings and decisions of the BiH Constitutional Court, including the equality of the three constituent peoples as a necessary precondition for Bosnia and Herzegovina's political stability and European future," Čović said on Tuesday, adding that the EPP remains to be a reliable partner to the HDZ BiH, the Fena news agency reported.

In a Twitter post on Tuesday Izetbegović thanked "friends and partners in the EPP for accepting our arguments and recognising, in the adopted resolution, the real priorities in BiH as well as clearly identifying the political actors who are blocking democratic processes in the country and its journey to the European Union."

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June 25th, 2021 - The European Parliament adopted a report by Croatian MEP Predrag Fred Matić on sexual and reproductive health and rejected an alternative motion for a resolution by the European People's Party (EPP).

Matić's resolution, which sparked a media storm, a reaction from the Church, and a debate in the Croatian parliament, calls on member states to introduce comprehensive sex education for young people, to improve access to contraception, and to ensure better access to menstrual hygiene products by abolishing taxes.

It calls on member states to ensure safe and legal abortion and stresses that "a total ban on abortion care or denial of abortion care is a form of gender-based violence."

Member states should ensure more accessible infertility treatment and antenatal, childbirth, and postnatal care, it is said in the resolution, which was adopted by 378 votes in favor, 255 against, and 42 abstentions.

The resolution also notes that "there are several links between prostitution and trafficking, and acknowledges that prostitution - both in the EU and across the globe - fuels the trafficking of vulnerable women and minors" and calls for the abolition of harmful practices such as female genital mutilation and early and forced marriages.

The European Parliament "recognizes that for personal reasons, individual medical practitioners may invoke a conscience clause; (...) however, (...) an individual's conscience clause may not interfere with a patient's right to full access to healthcare and services," the resolution says.

The Parliament "regrets that sometimes common practice in the Member States allows for medical practitioners, and on some occasions entire medical institutions, to refuse to provide health services based on the so-called conscience clause, which leads to the denial of abortion care on the grounds of religion or conscience, and which endangers women's lives and rights," it is said in the resolution.

Right-wing politicians criticized Matić's report due to, they said, citing abortion as a human right, problematizing the conscience clause, and exceeding the powers of EU member states.

The European People's Party submitted its own resolution for adoption.

The European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) also had a motion for a resolution. They demanded a plenary session the day before that Matić's report be removed from the agenda, which was not adopted.

Matić's resolution was earlier approved by the Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality by 27 votes in favor and six against.

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