In September, Bosnia and Herzegovina will become a member of the European Union Civil Protection Mechanism. With the conclusion of the negotiations and the signing of the contract, civil protection in Bosnia and Herzegovina will become the first institutions of the state to enter the EU mechanisms.
The accession process began in 2015, when BiH submitted a request for membership in the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. At that time, it was estimated that it was not ready and a grant project of 2.5 million euros was provided to improve capacity. This project was implemented and completed on November 1, 2021, which created the conditions for joining the Mechanism.
On July 13, the Council of Ministers adopted the basis for conducting negotiations, and on July 22, the BiH Presidency also adopted the basis for conducting negotiations and appointed the negotiating delegation of BiH in the process of joining the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.
The first meeting of the negotiating delegations was held on July 26, and it was confirmed that there were no objections to the proposed text, and it was agreed that the EU delegation would implement its procedures by August 19. After that, a final negotiation meeting will be held and then the final agreement will be sent to the Council of Ministers and the BiH Presidency for adoption.
The signing of the agreement is expected in the first half of September, which will make Bosnia and Herzegovina a full member of the Mechanism, explains the leader of the negotiating delegation and head of the strategic planning department, Idriz Brkovic.
He points out that after that the invitation came and a proposal for an agreement for accession and the start of negotiations for membership in the Mechanism was sent. By signing the Agreement on Accession to the EU Mechanism for Civil Protection, Bosnia and Herzegovina will become a full member of the Mechanism and the possibility will be opened to cooperate with other countries in training, and the member countries of the Mechanism have the duty to support other members affected by the disaster when necessary.
“All member countries undertake to exchange information, coordinate joint operations, share resources in order to ensure a faster and more efficient response to disasters within and outside the European Union,” explains Brkovic.
Membership will enable the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which are part of the protection and rescue system, to provide a timely and adequate response to an accident when resources within Bosnia and Herzegovina are exhausted.
“It is very important that membership opens the possibility to apply directly to projects offered in the European Union, which has not been the case so far. It is up to us how quickly we can organize and successfully prepare projects to justify the membership fee that BiH will pay, ” says Brkovic, Klix.ba writes.
