A Conference on EU programmes organised by the EU Delegation and the BiH Directorate for European Integration. was held on Monday in Sarajevo.

The conference was organised in cooperation with Phase III of the EU funded project to support the BiH Government in the process of European integration and coordination of community assistance. It presented community programmes and the opportunities they offer to BiH institutions to facilitate the path towards EU membership. Two representatives from government of the Republic of Croatia were invited to present Croatia’s experience of the participation in EU Programmes and to talk about lessons learnt and benefits.

„We have a large number of programmes in various fields,“ said Johann Hesse, Head of the Operations section for economic development, natural resources and infrastructure at the EU Delegation. He added that the Delegation wants to prepare BiH institutions to access Community/EU programmes, since Bosnia and Herzegovina is a potential EU membership candidate.

„It was agreed that the countries which are potential candidates do not have to pay the full financial contribution for participation in the programmes, „Hesse explained, adding that IPA funds can be used to cover maximum  90 percent of the cost of participation in Community programmes, with the remainder coming from the domestic budget.

Nevenka Savić, Director of the Directorate for European Integration, pointed out that the EU has actively encouraged countries of the Western Balkans to participate in Community programmes since the 2003 Thessaloniki Summit.

„Until now, BiH has participated in two EU programmes, the Seventh Framework programme for Research and Technological Development and the Culture programme,” she said. „ The Directorate for European Integration has been preparing for participation in three more programmes, the Media programme, the  Entrepreneurship and an Innovation Programme, and the „Europe for Citizens” programme,” she said. Nevenka Savić explained that EU programmes function on the basis of an „entry ticket” (financial contribution).

„When Bosnia and Herzegovina pays the entry ticket, our candidates can apply to participate in the relevant programmes. There is a ratio between the cost of the entry ticket and the funds that are available, so it is important that Bosnia and Herzegovina is actively involved so that it can use the available funds,” she said. „If we have more projects, more funds will be used.”

Angelina Pudar, Head of the Directorate for European Integration department responsible for helping Bosnia and Herzegovina participate in EU programmes, pointed out that the entry ticket for the Seventh Framework programme for Research and Technological Development in 2009 amounted to one million Euros, in 2010 it was 1. 5 million Euro and this year two million Euro.

„This programme has a budget of 50 billion Euro that the countries have at their disposal through the projects, which is why the entry tickets are so high,“ she explained, adding that the entry ticket for the Culture programme is 50,000 Euro for 2011, 2012 and 2013 each