While neighboring countries are already drawing the first million-dollar tranches from the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans, Bosnia and Herzegovina remains the only country that, due to the non-adoption of reform programs, still does not have access to this European Union mechanism. Representatives of BiH went to the EU-Western Balkans summit dedicated to the Growth Plan with a promise that the document will soon be adopted, instead of with a harmonized document.
Prior to the Summit, the Council of Ministers approved the draft reform program and instructed the harmonization of the final text with lower levels of government within the next 45 days.
What is the reform program and why does BiH not have it?
In order to qualify for financial support from the Growth Plan, the country must adopt a reform program, publicly known as the reform agenda. This document clearly defines priorities and explains how the country plans to improve its system, from the judiciary and anti-corruption efforts, through education and environmental protection, to strengthening the economy and employment.
In the context of BiH, the reform agenda includes obligations that have already been undertaken through domestic strategies, international agreements, and the European integration process. This program brings these goals to the forefront, with clearly defined deadlines, measures, and progress indicators, while the EU provides additional incentives and support for their implementation.
The process of drafting the reform program in BiH began at the end of November 2023, and it was already clear which issues would be difficult to harmonize. The Council of Ministers of BiH formed a Working Team for the preparation of the reform program but missed the opportunity to clearly define its role as the main arbiter for resolving potential disputes that could block or slow down work. Instead, the Working Team was established based on the structures and working methods of the existing but inefficient coordination mechanism for European integration.
The Working Team prescribed unanimous decision-making on all issues in its Rules of Procedure, regardless of the distribution of competencies for individual measures. The consequence of this model is that BiH is the only country that, by the deadline in August 2024, did not submit a harmonized reform program to the European Commission. Thus, the condition for access to pre-financing, which the EU envisaged as a form of motivation and support for the implementation of reforms within the Growth Plan, was not met.
Upon the adoption of the reform program and ratification of the agreement with the EU, BiH should receive approximately 70 million euros, which is only a small part compared to the total funds available to it.
Points of contention
It went unnoticed that the Working Team harmonized as many as 111 out of 113 measures identified by the European Commission as necessary. These measures include, among other things, the adoption of laws such as those on the HJPC and courts, digitalization of the public sector, simplification of the legal framework for business registration, increasing the number of children attending preschool education, and similar.
Many of these measures have been obligations on BiH’s European path for years, so difficulties or delays in their implementation can be expected. It remains unclear why the remaining two measures were not adopted.
Agreement was not reached regarding the appointment of judges to vacant positions in the Constitutional Court of BiH and the recognition and application of the court’s decisions throughout the country’s territory. The other contentious measure relates to the implementation of competition policy laws at all levels of government and alignment with EU legal acquis through the abolition of entity veto rights in decision-making in the State Aid Council and the Competition Council of BiH.
Where are we now?
The Council of Ministers of BiH informed the public with a brief statement that at a telephone session held on June 27, 2025, it adopted the draft reform program and tasked ministries to continue activities on harmonizing positions with ministries at other levels of government within the next 45 days to finalize the document. This formally confirmed that the Working Team completed its work and that a political agreement on the draft text was reached. However, it is a temporary political agreement, not a finally harmonized document.
According to available information, the content of the reform program still needs to receive the consent of all entities and cantons in order to be forwarded to the European Commission for approval. Although the Working Group previously announced that citizens would be able to submit their comments and suggestions for improving the document through the e-Consultation platform, it is unclear whether this mandatory step will be skipped.
At this moment, it is not known how the earlier points of contention will be harmonized, nor what will happen if some of the lower levels of government do not support the proposed text. Therefore, there is a real danger that BiH will enter a new phase of political maneuvering and prolonging the adoption of the document even after the expiration of the new deadline, which would further jeopardize the possibility of using funds from the Growth Plan and confirm the practice of lacking clear political responsibility in implementing reforms.
What next?
Without the final adoption of the reform program, BiH remains without access to funds from the Growth Plan, which not only represent financial support but also concrete trust from the European Union in the country’s ability to fulfill its obligations. The lack of political will and readiness for compromise further slows down reform processes and undermines BiH’s credibility as a serious candidate for EU membership.
Citizens, who should be the biggest beneficiaries of reforms and investments, remain completely excluded in this process: the public does not have enough information about the content of the program, there is no clear plan for organizing public consultations, and key information most often arrives indirectly, through political statements, instead of through official institutions.
In the next 45 days, institutions must show readiness to harmonize the remaining issues, ensure full transparency, and enable citizens to gain insight into the reform obligations that will be implemented on their behalf. Only in this way can BiH meet the conditions for using funds from the Growth Plan and prove that reform processes are not solely a political issue but a matter of responsibility towards citizens. If the reform program is adopted within the new deadline, BiH faces a much more important task – fulfilling all undertaken obligations, including those whose fulfillment BiH authorities have been avoiding for years, or even decades.
