Brussels, 06/01/2014 (Agence Europe) - On 23 December, the European Commission adopted the 2013 national programme for Bosnia and Herzegovina under the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) worth €41.9 million - in other words, €45 million less than initially planned. This large reduction is due to the lack of progress in Bosnia and Herzegovina's European integration process (see EUROPE 10940). The country has still not brought its constitution into line with the European convention on human rights (Sejdic-Finci ruling) nor set up a coordination mechanism for European issues. The European Commission could not therefore justify providing the full amount of aid previously envisaged because this funding is intended to help countries in their pre-accession reforms
The programme focuses inter alia on the justice sector and the fight against money laundering, support for refugees and internally displaced persons, demining, social inclusion in education, the Roma and SME development.
In addition to the €41.9 million IPA funding, €16.4 million was committed in 2013 to Bosnia as part of the multi-beneficiary programme to support refugees, education and civil society. (CG/transl.fl)