Bosnia and Herzegovina has already permanently lost 108.5 million euros from the European Union’s Growth Plan for the Western Balkans because of delays in submitting and adopting its Reform Agenda. The lost amount is part of a wider financial package that could have provided the country with up to one billion euros in support, but the funds remain blocked because the authorities have not fulfilled the required reform commitments.
The Reform Agenda is a key condition for access to EU funds intended to accelerate economic development, investment and integration with the European Union. MPs in Bosnia and Herzegovina criticized the months-long delay, the lack of transparency in preparing the document, and even technical flaws in the material submitted to Parliament, including the use of two official scripts in the same document.
The EU Growth Plan for the Western Balkans is worth six billion euros in total, including four billion euros in favourable loans and two billion euros in grants. Bosnia and Herzegovina is the only country in the region that failed to agree on a reform plan acceptable to the European Commission on time, while other countries have already begun receiving payments.
The main obstacle remains political disagreement between different levels of government over competences, laws and reforms in areas such as education, social policy, the labour market, the judiciary and the Constitutional Court. Analysts warn that the problem is not only technical alignment with EU rules, but also the political will to implement agreed reforms.
The consequences could become even more serious. Analysts cited in the reports warn that Bosnia and Herzegovina has already lost around 250 million euros in potential EU assistance because of reform delays, while further postponement could put at risk the full one billion euros available for investment support. The funds were expected to help modernize key sectors, including infrastructure, railways, energy, digitalization and Corridor 5C.
