EU Adopts IPA II Program, BiH Still Waiting!

The Council of the European Union has adopted a decision on establishing a mechanism for pre-accession assistance for countries in the process of European integration for the period 2014-2020, better known as the “IPA II” program, the BiH news agency Patria (NAP) has learned. This information was also confirmed to NAP by the Delegation of the European Union in Sarajevo.

The decision on establishing a new financial assistance mechanism was adopted on February 27, and the European Parliament had previously given the green light. The total assistance package for that period is 11.7 billion euros for all beneficiary countries over a six-year period.

In the officially adopted document, Bosnia and Herzegovina is listed as a beneficiary of pre-accession assistance; however, agreements on the concrete implementation of this program have been blocked for months.

- Preparations for the IPA II program with BiH are still in their early stages, and there have been no official contacts with BiH authorities regarding this yet - the EU Delegation in Sarajevo told NAP agency.

As we learn unofficially from European diplomats, informal consultations with BiH officials about the new phase of using IPA funds have been ongoing for some time, but there has been no substantial progress. BiH has not met the basic conditions, including the establishment of a coordination mechanism within its government structures. As we learn, BiH is already several months behind other member states in programming IPA II funds.

Facsimile of the Council of the EU decision on establishing an assistance mechanism for the Western Balkan countries and Turkey

It is estimated that if BiH enters the process of using the IPA II program, it could receive financial assistance from the European Union of over 600 million euros in six years. However, without progress, there will be no use of that money.