The European Commission has informed the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) that the funds allocated to our country under the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans will be reduced by 10 percent, or 108.5 million euros, due to delays in submitting the final version of the Reform Agenda.
This decision means that BiH will now have 976.6 million euros available under the Regional Guarantee Fund (RGF), instead of the originally planned 1.085 billion euros.
In an official letter sent on July 17th, 2025, to the Chairwoman of the Council of Ministers of BiH, Borjana Kristo, the European Commission member responsible for enlargement, Marta Kos, recalls that the Commission had already on June 18th warned of the necessity to submit the Reform Agenda no later than the Western Balkans leaders’ summit held on July 1st in Skopje.
“Although I welcome the fact that talks in BiH are ongoing, I must note that the Commission has not yet received a finalized and agreed Reform Agenda from BiH,” Kos states in the letter. “Therefore, I regret to inform you that the Commission cannot retain the amount originally planned for BiH.”
The Commission, as stated, has no other choice but to begin the gradual reduction of funds, as was announced in the previous letter.
“We must ensure a homogeneous, orderly, and credible implementation of the budget related to this instrument, within a very limited timeframe,” emphasizes Kos, adding that in the case of the five already approved Reform Agendas for other partners in the Western Balkans, the funds are directly tied to the implementation of reforms in accordance with a pre-agreed schedule. Any delay that exceeds the so-called ‘grace period’ automatically results in a reduction of funds.
In accordance with the regulation governing the RGF, the Commission insists on equal treatment of all fund beneficiaries and on credible planning of reform implementation.
At the end of the letter, Kos calls on the BiH authorities to submit the final version of the Reform Agenda without further delay, so that the Commission, with the opinion of European Union (EU)member states, can proceed with its assessment and possible approval. If this is not done by September 30th, 2025, the Commission will carry out an additional 10 percent reduction in funds.
“Please keep this fact in mind when planning investments under your Reform Agenda,” Kos says.
It should be recalled that although its swift adoption was repeatedly announced, the final version of the Reform Agenda for BiH has still not been submitted. The main reason lies in deep political disagreements within the ruling coalition, especially between the SNSD, HDZ BiH, and the Coalition of the Three parties.
The SNSD rejects reforms that imply strengthening state institutions, the HDZ BiH conditions everything on the Election Law, while the Coalition of the Three tries to balance between reform demands and preserving the coalition.
The biggest challenge remains the part concerning the rule of law, as reforms in this area touch on the foundations of political control over the judiciary, Klix.ba writes.
