The European Commission has just adopted a program for BiH for 2016, and assigned 47 million to support BiH on its path towards EU integration.
This program follows the principle of enlargement policy, ” first the base”, so it focuses on the area of rule of the law and fundamental rights, strengthening of democratic institutions, good governance, economic development and competitiveness. It builds on the programs from 2014 and 2015 under the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA II), which amounted to at least 165.8 million BAM for BiH from 2014 to 2017.
The program will support the efforts of BiH on developing an effective, professional and transparent civil services, thus building the capacity of the public sector to deliver services to citizens. Further support will help the improvement of the capacity of parliaments in the process of EU integration on different levels of government all across the country, and it will strengthen the public procurement system as well.
The EU will also continue to fund the International Commission for Missing Persons. Flood control and integrated flood risk management represent further priority for this program. The program will also support the implementation of labor market reforms and local development, as part of a broader Reform Agenda, for contribution to the economic development of BiH, as well as the creation of more workplaces and prosperity for all citizens.
Moreover, financial assistance will be provided for civil society and support to the participation of BiH in the agencies and programs of the European Union such as “Europe for Citizens”, “Erasmus +”, “Horizon 2020” and “Creative Europe”, from which the citizens of BiH will have direct benefit.
BiH also uses the support of the EU’s multi-country program of financial assistance under the IPA II, which provides financial support on the regional level.
(Source: klix.ba)