The EU Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina has started contracting projects under the €71 million worth financial package, following the signing of the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) 2018 Programme by BiH authorities in December last year. The funds will be used, among others, for the agriculture, environment and justice sectors. Bosnia and Herzegovina is currently also utilising funds implemented from IPA 2013 to IPA 2017, with an overall commitment exceeding €350 million.
In 2019, the EU contracted nearly €81 million and paid out over €64 million, significantly above the targets set in the beginning of the year. The EU expects that the financial performance of BiH will further increase in 2020, both for the contracting of the new actions as well as payments for the ongoing projects.
As for IPA 2019 and 2020, in November last year the EU Member States approved these annual programmes of a combined worth of approximately €170 million. These funds will target the following sectors: public administration reform, public finance management, justice and transitional justice, home affairs, support to parliaments in the EU accession process, energy, transport, environment, trade and education, employment and social policies. This allows for the start of the preparation of BiH for the next Financial Perspective 2021 – 2027.
BiH is also one of the biggest beneficiary of the Regional IPA for transport in the Western Balkans. Some €215 million of grant co-financing is used for acceleration of the construction of motorway on Corridor Vc, with several segments under construction (Zenica sjever, Rudanka – Johovac, Pocitelj – Zvirovici) or about to be started (Tarcin – Ivan). Gradiska Bridge is under construction and Svilaj Bridge is to be completed during upcoming months.
*EU funds are planned and allocated to Bosnia and Herzegovina, following an assessment of needs in the different sectors. IPA assistance aims at supporting and promoting the reforms required for progress in the accession process, as identified in the EC Opinion.
