The Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina on Friday adopted a draft reform plan and a list of reforms, thus creating the conditions for access to billions of euros that the European Union has earmarked for BiH as part of the financial package for the Western Balkans.
The Chairperson of the Council of Ministers of BiH, Borjana Krišto (HDZ BiH), thanked the European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos and the European Union Delegation to BiH in a post on Iksu. She pointed out that, after the adoption of the draft reform plan and list of reforms, all levels of government will work on harmonizing the final text. “We are continuing our progress on the path towards the EU,” said Krišto.
The government of Republika Srpska and the four majority counties led by Bakir Izetbegović’s Party of Democratic Action (SDA), have so far opposed certain reforms necessary for access to European Union funds.
The EU Growth Plan for the Western Balkans, worth 6 billion euros for the period from 2024 to 2027, includes 2 billion euros in grants, while the remaining part represents soft loans. For Bosnia and Herzegovina, about one billion euros is planned, which will be intended for stimulating economic growth, green and digital transition, and strengthening regional integration.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is the only country in the Western Balkans that has not yet started using funds from the EU Growth Plan. While Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia have already started the implementation of their reform agendas and withdrawn the initial grants, Bosnia and Herzegovina has not yet met the conditions for access to these funds.
One of the main reasons for the delay is the complexity of the political framework in BiH. In order for the Reform Agenda to be accepted, coordination is needed at all levels of government, including entities and ten counties in the Federation of BiH, which makes the whole process complicated and slower.