Until now:
ECHO, Phare and OBNOVA

Until now, the three main EC instruments for assistance to Bosnia and Herzegovina were ECHO (The European Community Humanitarian Office) and the Phare and OBNOVA programmes. ECHO has been present in Bosnia and Herzegovina since 1992 to provide emergency humanitarian aid to the victims of the war, and is now gradually withdrawing from the country. The Phare and OBNOVA programmes are complementary : "Phare assistance is limited to projects in direct support to the peace agreement, in particular the building of cross-Entity links and refugee return", while OBNOVA funding is used to further "underpin the reconstruction process, to encourage return of refugees, reconciliation and regional economic co-operation, and to create the economic and social conditions that will lay the foundations for the development" of Bosnia and Herzegovina by supporting CAFAO, economic development activities, integrated assistance activities, social development and media projects.

The Phare and Obnova programmes for BiH will be replaced in the course of the year 2000 by a new single programme specifically designed for the reconstruction and stabilisation of South Eastern Europe.

A new regulation for the countries of South-Eastern Europe

The European Commission adopted on 8 December 1999 a communication setting out guidelines and detailed arrangements for the implementation of the Community's future assistance to the five countries of South Eastern Europe for 2000-2006, including Bosnia and Herzegovina. This communication aims to tailor the delivery of assistance to the region more closely to the objectives of the EU's strategy and needs on the ground. On the basis of these guidelines, the Commission will present a draft regulation on implementing assistance in the first quarter of 2000. This regulation will provide a single legal basis and single set of procedures for assistance in the region. The Commission estimates that a sum of approximately 5.5 billion EURO in the form of grants is conceivable for the period 2000-2006.

In the past, two regulations, Phare and OBNOVA, have provided the legal bases for Community assistance. It is now proposed to rationalise existing instruments and to streamline the Community effort. By adapting to the needs on the ground and emphasising a regional strategy, the improved Community assistance will contribute to the existing Stabilisation and Association Process which includes closer association with the European Union structures and, for the first time, the prospect of gradual integration into them. This prospect is a historic turning-point in the relations of the countries of South East Europe with the EU.

Other EC initiatives in Bosnia and Herzegovina:

Specific aid to the reception and voluntary repatriation of refugees in the European Union has been available since 1997 under the budget line B7-6008 ("voluntary repatriation of refugees, displaced persons and asylum seekers to their country of origin).

Additional assistance is also provided under the Democracy, LIEN or TEMPUS programmes.

Bosnia and Herzegovina is eligible to the LIFE environment programme

Deconcentration of EC reconstruction programmes

In 1998, significant steps have been taken to improve the level of implementation of the EC-funded projects:

- amendments brought to the OBNOVA Regulation have simplified the decision-making process for project approval and implementation;

- the management of the programmes has been deconcentrated from the EC headquarters in Brussels to the Commission Representation in Sarajevo supported in its tasks by a Technical Assistance Unit and monitoring teams.

Accelerating project implementation

The management of the EC reconstruction programmes in BiH has been successfully deconcentrated from the EC headquarters in Brussels to the Delegation of the European Commission in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

A Technical Assistance Unit with currently a staff of more than 50 long and short term experts -of which more than three quarters are Bosnian nationals- is supporting the Delegation of the European Commission in BiH in the implementation of a wide range of projects in various sectors: transport, energy, water, public buildings, agriculture, bridge reconstruction, economic regeneration, privatisation, health, telecommunications, etc. The Technical Assistance Unit (TAU) is now operating through its four offices in Bosnia and Herzegovina: three in Sarajevo and one in Banja Luka. It assists the Delegation of the European Commission notably with:

- administrative aspects of the tendering and contracting procedures in order to accelerate the commitment of EC funds;

- project identification, preparation and appraisal;

- project supervision and monitoring.

The activities performed by the TAU may gradually be integrated in Bosnia and Herzegovina's administrative structures, in order to strengthen the capacity of the local authorities in project identification and development as well as the introduction of public procurement procedures in the tendering and implementation process.

A Future with Europe - Table of Contents