Council of Ministers of BiH Adopts Decision on Forming Team for Preparation of Application for European Union Solidarity Fund

(Patria) - The Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, at an extraordinary telephone session, adopted the Decision on forming a Team for the preparation of an application for the European Union (EU) Solidarity Fund.

The Team was formed at the proposal of the Office of the Chairperson of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the aim of timely submission of an application for non-refundable funds from the EU Solidarity Fund for the purpose of recovering from the consequences of floods in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Members of this team include representatives from the Office of the Chairperson of the Council of Ministers of BiH, state ministries of security and finance and treasury, the Directorate for European Integration, the BiH Statistics Council, as well as directors of entity civil protection administrations.

The Team's task is to prepare an action plan regarding damage assessment and the dynamics of filling out the application, and to communicate with the Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy of the European Commission regarding the preparation of the application, with the involvement of the Directorate for European Integration. The deadline for completing this task is 26.12.2024.

In accordance with the earlier conclusion of the Council of Ministers of BiH, this team will hold coordination meetings at least once a week with representatives of the competent institutions of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, all mayors and city mayors, and the Prime Minister of the Central Bosnia Canton and the President of the Government of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton, where regular validation of collected data from the field on damage assessment will be carried out.

Representatives of other institutions, as well as experts with relevant expertise, may participate in the Team's work as needed and upon invitation.

The Ministry of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Directorate for European Integration will, in accordance with their responsibilities for coordinating European Union assistance to Bosnia and Herzegovina, provide expert and technical assistance to the Team in the application preparation process. The European Union Solidarity Fund, as the main EU instrument for supporting recovery from natural disasters, enables a member state (or candidate country), as a sign of solidarity, to receive effective support in dealing with the consequences of large-scale natural disasters, such as floods, forest fires, earthquakes, storms, or droughts. Bosnia and Herzegovina, as a candidate country for membership in the European Union, has the possibility to use this fund.