Although the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) approved an initiative requesting the Council of Ministers to establish clear criteria on who is entitled to use official vehicles 24 hours a day, the Council of Ministers has failed to reach an agreement on the matter. In two rounds of voting, six members voted in favor, while members from Republika Srpska voted against.

The Council of Ministers made this decision in early October last year, but did not inform the public in their regular post-session statements.

“It’s true they rejected the initiative, and this reflects the ruling structure's attitude towards public funds entrusted to them. Instead of showing goodwill to save and use resources rationally, they display even greater wastefulness and arrogance. I will consider further steps to push this initiative forward, as it's clear that official vehicles are being used for private purposes—vacations, weddings, and so on,” said Semsudin Mehmedovic, a member of the House of Representatives who initiated the proposal to limit the 24-hour use of official vehicles.

Currently, according to data from a study by the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, 154 individuals across BiH have access to official vehicles 24 hours a day. The document also reveals inconsistent practices across institutions: the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC), which has 14 official vehicles, has not granted 24-hour access to any employee, while the Missing Persons Institute has allocated 23 vehicles for round-the-clock use by its employees and investigators.

The initiative, which the Council of Ministers has not adopted despite the House of Representatives’ request, proposes amendments to the Rulebook on the Conditions for Procurement and Use of Official Vehicles in BiH institutions, specifically removing the clause that allows continuous 24-hour use.

“Institution heads are granting themselves vehicle access without any approval or oversight from the appointing body, and others without any clear criteria. There’s no justification for any manager in this country to have a vehicle available 24 hours a day, except for protected individuals, as most institutions operate within a single building. Even institutions with offices in multiple cities have no valid reason for this. There are numerous cases of abuse involving 24-hour vehicle access,” states the initiative.

The initiative, supported by the House of Representatives, proposes that official vehicles be used strictly for official purposes and calls on the Council of Ministers to establish clear criteria defining who, according to their official duties, has the right to use an official vehicle 24 hours a day, rather than allowing agency or institution heads to decide this independently.

It’s worth noting that the Audit Office of the Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina recently published a new performance audit report titled “Fleet Management in BiH Institutions.” The report concluded that fleet management is neither transparent nor cost-effective.