Protocol for the programme of technical cooperation between the European Central Bank (ECB), the Delegation of the European Union in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina (CBBH) was signed on 15 March in Sarajevo at the premises of the CBBH. Tripartite protocol for the program of technical cooperation, “Implementation of the ECB/Eurosystem recommendations for the Central Bank of BiH“, was signed by a member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank, Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell, Head of the EU Delegation to BiH, Ambassador Dimitris Kourkoulas and Governor of the Central Bank of BiH  Kemal Kozarić.

The aim of the 18 months programme which will start on 1 April 2010, is to support the Central Bank of BiH in its efforts to implement the central banking standards of the European Union in preparation for Bosnia and Herzegovina’s accession to the EU.

Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell stressed that the aspirations of Bosnia and Herzegovina to join the European Union and its status as a potential EU candidate country imply the need to adapt to EU rules and standards. „Once the overall conditions are met and Bosnia and Herzegovina  joins the European Union, the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina will join the European System of Central Banks, and it is therefore also important to continue working towards compliance with the standards and rules relating to central banks,“ said Mrs. Tumpel-Gugerell.

The EU allocated 1 million euro to this programme from its Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA).  This programme will cover six different areas, the first three of which follow up on the recommendations from the 2007 programme: statistics, economic analysis and research, financial stability, harmonisation of legislation with the EU, coordination of integration with the EU and improvement of the IT services at the Central Bank of BiH. During the next 18 months, the staff of the Central Bank of BiH will be working closely with experts from the ECB as well as with experts from national central banks of the Eurosystem.

Dimitris Kourkulas, Head of the EU Delegation to BiH reminded that the Central Bank of BiH is one of the strongest institutions in the country, enjoying a high reputation and stands as the pillar of monetary stability. „The preparations for the future membership of the Central Bank of BiH in the EU central banking community are a significant challenge. This project will be one of the steps on this way. It will mobilise experts from the national central banks of Germany, Greece, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Austria and Slovenia to work with its BiH colleagues and help them to move closer to European central banking standards. All those efforts will be managed by the European Central bank,“ said Mr. Kourkulas.

This new project is follow up on the needs assessment programme of the Central Bank of BiH, which was implemented in 2007 by the European Central Bank, with the financial support of the European Commission. Kemal Kozarić, Governor of the Central Bank of BiH said that at the time, the assessment of condition was made in seven areas of the Central Bank of BiH operations, the benchmarking with the European system of Central Banks standards was conducted. The Central Bank of BiH received a „Road Map“, in other words the recommendations that is should implement to harmonize its activities with the European standards. As he stressed, a part of the recommendations that have been given, the Central Bank of BiH mostly implemented with its own capacities.