Original source: Transparentno.ba
While neighboring countries are already withdrawing their first multimillion-euro tranches from the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans, Bosnia and Herzegovina remains the only country that, due to the failure to adopt its reform program, still has no access to this European Union mechanism. BiH representatives attended the EU–Western Balkans Summit, dedicated to the Growth Plan, without a finalized reform document, offering instead a promise that it would be adopted soon.
The Council of Ministers approved a draft reform program before the Summit and instructed that the final text be harmonized with lower levels of government within the next 45 days.
What is the Reform Program and why doesn’t BiH have one?
To become eligible for financial support from the Growth Plan, a country must adopt a reform program, publicly known as the Reform Agenda. This is a document that clearly outlines priorities and explains how the country plans to improve its systems – from judiciary and anti-corruption efforts, through education and environmental protection, to strengthening the economy and employment.
In the case of BiH, the Reform Agenda includes commitments already made through domestic strategies, international agreements, and the European integration process. This program brings those goals to the forefront, with clearly defined timelines, measures, and progress indicators, while the EU provides additional incentives and support for implementation.
The drafting of the Reform Program in BiH began in late November 2023, and from the start it was clear which issues would be hard to reconcile. The Council of Ministers established a Working Group for drafting the Reform Program but failed to define its role as the main arbitrator for resolving disputes that could block or delay the process. Instead, the Working Group was modeled on the structures and practices of the existing but ineffective coordination mechanism for European integration.
The Working Group’s Rules of Procedure require unanimous decision-making on all issues, regardless of the division of competences for specific measures. As a result, BiH is the only country that did not submit a harmonized reform program to the European Commission before the deadline in August 2024. This meant it did not meet the condition for accessing pre-financing, which the EU envisioned as a form of motivation and support for implementing reforms within the Growth Plan.
Upon adoption of the reform program and ratification of the agreement with the EU, BiH is expected to receive approximately €70 million—only a small portion of the total funds available.
Points of Dispute
It went largely unnoticed that the Working Group agreed on 111 out of 113 measures identified by the European Commission as necessary. These include, among others, the adoption of laws on the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council and the courts, digitization of the public sector, simplification of the legal framework for business registration, and increasing preschool enrollment rates.
Many of these measures have been pending on BiH’s EU path for years, and difficulties in their implementation can be expected. This makes it all the more unclear why the remaining two measures were not adopted.
Consensus was not reached on the appointment of judges to vacant seats in the Constitutional Court of BiH and the recognition and application of its decisions across the entire country. The second contentious measure relates to the implementation of competition law at all levels of government and alignment with the EU acquis through the elimination of entity veto rights in decision-making in the State Aid Council and the BiH Competition Council.
Where Are We Now?
The BiH Council of Ministers issued a short statement informing the public that, in a telephone session held on June 27, 2025, it adopted the draft reform program and tasked ministries—together with ministries at lower levels of government—with continuing efforts over the next 45 days to harmonize views in order to finalize the document. This formally confirmed that the Working Group had completed its task and that a political agreement had been reached on the draft text. However, this is a provisional political agreement, not a fully harmonized document.
According to available information, the content of the reform program still needs approval from all entities and cantons before it can be forwarded to the European Commission for approval. Although the Working Group previously announced that citizens would be able to submit comments and suggestions for improving the document via the e-Consultation platform, it is unclear whether this mandatory step will be skipped.
At this point, it is not known how the previously contentious issues will be resolved, nor what will happen if some lower levels of government do not support the proposed text. This poses a real risk that, even after the new deadline expires, BiH could enter another phase of political bargaining and delays, further jeopardizing its ability to access funds from the Growth Plan and reaffirming a pattern of lacking political accountability in implementing reforms.
What’s Next?
Without final adoption of the Reform Program, BiH remains excluded from the Growth Plan funds, which represent not only financial support but also a sign of the EU’s trust in the country’s capacity to meet its commitments. The lack of political will and readiness for compromise further slows down reform processes and undermines BiH’s credibility as a serious EU membership candidate.
Citizens, who should be the main beneficiaries of reforms and investments, remain entirely excluded from this process: the public has little information about the content of the program, there is no clear plan to hold public consultations, and key information usually reaches the public indirectly, through political statements rather than official institutions.
In the next 45 days, institutions must demonstrate a willingness to reconcile remaining issues, ensure full transparency, and allow citizens to review the reform commitments to be implemented on their behalf. Only then can BiH fulfill the requirements to access Growth Plan funds and prove that reform processes are not merely a political issue, but a matter of responsibility to its citizens. If the reform program is adopted within the new timeframe, BiH will face a much more important task—implementing all the agreed obligations, including those that BiH authorities have been avoiding for years, or even decades.