Reform Agenda: What stands in the way of BiH accessing additional EU funds?

(Patria) - While neighboring countries are already withdrawing the first million-euro tranches from the Western Balkans Growth Plan, Bosnia and Herzegovina remains the only country that, due to the non-adoption of the reform agenda, still does not have access to this European Union mechanism. Instead of a harmonized document, BiH representatives went to the EU-Western Balkans Summit, dedicated to the Growth Plan, with a promise that it would be adopted soon.

Before the Summit, the Council of Ministers approved the draft reform agenda and ordered the final text to be harmonized with lower levels of government within the next 45 days.

What is the reform agenda and why doesn't BiH have it?

In order to be eligible for financial support from the Growth Plan, the country must adopt a reform agenda, publicly known as the reform agenda. This is a document that clearly defines priorities and explains how the country plans to improve its system, from justice and the fight against corruption, through education and environmental protection, to strengthening the economy and employment, according to an analysis by Transparency International BiH.

In the context of BiH, the reform agenda includes obligations that have already been undertaken through domestic strategies, international agreements, and the European integration process. This program brings these goals to the forefront, with clearly defined deadlines, measures, and progress indicators, while the EU provides additional incentives and support for their implementation.

The process of drafting the reform agenda in BiH began at the end of November 2023, and it was already clear at that time which issues would be difficult to harmonize. The BiH Council of Ministers formed a Working Group for the preparation of the reform agenda but missed the opportunity to clearly define its role as the main arbiter for resolving potential disputes that could block or slow down the work. Instead, the Working Group was established based on the structures and working methods of the existing, but ineffective, coordination mechanism for European integration.

The Working Group's Rules of Procedure stipulated unanimous decision-making on all issues, regardless of the division of responsibilities for individual measures. The consequence of this model is that BiH is the only country that did not submit a harmonized reform agenda to the European Commission by the deadline in August 2024. This means the condition for accessing pre-financing, which the EU provided as a form of motivation and support for implementing reforms within the Growth Plan, has not been met.

Upon adoption of the reform agenda and ratification of the agreement with the EU, BiH should receive approximately 70 million euros, which is only a small portion of the total funds available to it.

Points of contention

The fact that the Working Group harmonized as many as 111 out of 113 measures identified by the European Commission as necessary went unnoticed. These measures include, among others, the adoption of laws such as those on the HJPC and courts, the digitalization of the public sector, the simplification of the legal framework for business registration, and increasing the number of children attending preschool education.

Many of these measures have been BiH's obligations on its European path for years, so difficulties or delays in their implementation can be expected. This makes it even more unclear why the remaining two measures were not adopted.

Agreement was not reached regarding the appointment of judges to vacant positions in the Constitutional Court of BiH and the recognition and application of the decisions of that court throughout the country. The second contentious measure relates to the implementation of the competition policy law at all levels of government, and harmonization with EU acquis through the abolition of the entity veto in decision-making within the Council for State Aid and the BiH Competition Council.

Where are we now?

The BiH Council of Ministers informed the public through a brief statement that at a telephone session held on June 27, 2025, it adopted the draft reform agenda and tasked the ministries to continue activities on harmonizing positions in order to finalize the document within the next 45 days, together with ministries at other levels of government. This formally confirmed that the Working Group has completed its work and that a political agreement on the draft text has been reached. However, this is a temporary political agreement, not a finally harmonized document.

According to available information, the content of the reform agenda still needs to be approved by all entities and cantons in order to be forwarded to the European Commission for approval. Although the Working Group previously announced that citizens would be able to submit their comments and proposals for improving the document through the e-Consultations platform, it is unclear whether this mandatory step will be skipped.

At this moment, it is unknown how the previously contentious points will be harmonized, nor what will happen if any of the lower levels of government do not support the proposed text. Therefore, there is a real danger that BiH, even after the new deadline expires, will enter a new phase of political maneuvering and postponement of the document's adoption, which would further jeopardize the possibility of using funds from the Growth Plan and confirm the practice of a lack of clear political responsibility in implementing reforms.

What next?

Without the final adoption of the reform agenda, BiH remains without access to funds from the Growth Plan, which represent not only financial support but also concrete trust from the European Union in the country's ability to fulfill its obligations. The lack of political will and readiness for compromise further slows down reform processes and undermines BiH's credibility as a serious candidate for EU membership.

Citizens, who should be the main beneficiaries of reforms and investments, remain completely excluded from this process: the public does not have enough information about the content of the program, there is no clear plan for organizing public consultations, and key information often arrives indirectly, through political statements, rather than through official institutions.

In the next 45 days, institutions must show readiness to harmonize the remaining issues, ensure full transparency, and allow citizens insight into the reform obligations that will be implemented in their name. Only in this way can BiH meet the conditions for using funds from the Growth Plan and prove that reform processes are not solely a political issue, but a matter of responsibility towards citizens. If the reform agenda is adopted within the new deadline, a much more important task awaits BiH – to fulfill all undertaken obligations, including those whose fulfillment BiH authorities have been avoiding for years, or even decades.