Mr Marc Vanbrabant, first Counsellor of the European Commission Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina and Mr Dragan Vrankić, BiH Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Treasury have signed Financing Agreements for IPA Annual Action Programme 2007 in Sarajevo today. These Agreements will enable Bosnia and Herzegovina to access the funds allocated under the European Union new assistance programme “Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA)” for 2007.

The European Commission has allocated 440 M€ to Bosnia and Herzegovina under its IPA programme for the period 2007-2011. The main objective of the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance is to help BiH face the challenges of European integration, implement the reforms needed to fulfil EU requirements and progress in the Stabilisation and Association Process, and lay the foundations for fulfilling the Copenhagen criteria for EU membership.

“The Financing Agreements that we signed today will be targeted at projects in the area of ‘Institution Building’ and ‘Cross-border Cooperation’. The funding for Institution Building in the amount of 49.7 million euro will assist BiH in further transforming its public administration to allow the country to function more effectively in the near future and as a Member State later. The other two Financing Agreements for a total amount of 3.8 million euro that Bosnia and Herzegovina and European Commission signed on cross-border programmes between BiH and Serbia and Croatia will stimulate cross border cooperation” stated Mr Vanbrabant.

“The Financing Agreements that we sign today contain more than just some million Euros; it is the beginning of an EC-BiH cooperation in another dimension; a cooperation that will hopefully make from this unhappily divided country a happy Member State in some years from now, if this is the wish and aspiration of this country, and its citizens.”, concluded Mr. Vanbrabant at the signing ceremony.

Minister Vrankić thanked the European Commission for this financial support and emphasised that the main objective of the IPA was to assist Bosnia and Herzegovina in tackling the European Integration challenges, implementing the necessary reforms for the accession into EU and establishing the necessary foundations for the fulfilment of the Copenhagen criteria.

Funding of 49.736,394 Euro under the IPA 2007 includes the following areas: social inclusion and return, rule of law, public administration, labour and economic development, social policies, regulatory body, preparation for pre-structural funds, civil society and media. Bosnia and Herzegovina is currently eligible for the first two components of the IPA funds: transition assistance and institution building and Regional and Cross Border Cooperation. Once Bosnia and Herzegovina obtains a candidate status, it will have access to the remaining three components.

About IPA

As of 2007, the European Union assistance is channelled through a new financial instrument IPA. IPA brings together for the first time, into a single framework, assistance to candidate countries and potential candidate countries with a clear pre-accession aim for both categories of beneficiary. IPA is designed with five components to provide for targeted and effective assistance for each country according to its needs and evolution. These five components are: transition assistance and institution building; cross-border cooperation; regional development; human resources development; and rural development. Bosnia and Herzegovina is currently eligible for assistance to transition assistance and institution building and cross-border cooperation. Once the country has obtained the status of a candidate country the access to the other three components will be in principle opened to it.