On the heels of the Dayton Agreement, a massive and rapid assistance effort by the international community was required to address Bosnia and Herzegovina's most urgent needs and to consolidate the fragile peace. 1996 was thus a year of emergency interventions, often with quick-fix solutions.

The Commission demonstrated the Community's strong political commitment by approving significant funding and having staff on the ground in Sarajevo within weeks of the Peace Accord. With a total of EURO 125 million, the Essential Aid Programme (EAP), focusing primarily on essential imports (equipment for schools, buses, tractors, agricultural inputs, equipment for utilities, etc), provided assistance crucial to getting reconstruction underway. Eventually, the Commission refocused the EAP in project-oriented activities because of the difficult circumstances in which it was being implemented. The procurement component of the EAP was evaluated by independent experts in 1998 which concluded that "the EAP had a strong but variable direct impact according to the sector concerned" and that "the impact could have been stronger with improved management, sufficient staff and more technical expertise".⁴

In addition to procurement activities, the Phare and Obnova programmes funded a range of reconstruction and technical assistance projects in the areas of basic infrastructure, housing, institution building, economic regeneration and civil society development in particular through a "Europe for Sarajevo" programme.

A transition took place in 1997, as EC assistance moved away from addressing only emergency needs and towards a more systematic approach to rebuilding key sectors in Bosnia and Herzegovina fundamental to the overall revival of the economy. Following the conclusions of the London Peace Implementation Council of December 1996, the Commission developed an integrated approach to bring closer together the reconstruction and refugee return aspects of its assistance. Under the guidance of the High Representative, it also strictly applied the principles of conditionality in implementing its assistance.

The EC programmes funded major projects in transport, water and waste management, housing, energy and agriculture. At the same time, significant funding was provided to institutions in support of Dayton implementation, such as the Office of the High Representative, the International Police Task Force, and UNHCR. Political considerations resulted in the delay or disruption of programme implementation in 1997. For example, conditionality requirements led to the repeated postponement of the Donor Conference, originally planned for the beginning of the year. It was finally held in July, when the Commission pledged EURO 230,7 million for reconstruction in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Also, because of the risk that individuals not committed to Dayton were benefiting from projects in the Republika Srpska, the Commission was obliged to suspend part of the programme there in July 1997.

As Bosnia entered its third year of reconstruction, the international community agreed to a shift in assistance emphasis, taking into account both achievements and difficulties to that point. The return and reintegration of refugees and displaced persons became the focus of a major, new international effort. Creating sustainable reconstruction by moving away from emergency interventions and toward targeted programmes in support of economic development and institution building was the other guiding theme for the Commission's strategy. The Commission directed approximately half of the 1998 programme to refugee return initiatives. In addition, the Commission undertook several large institution-building projects, promoting the development of customs and taxation systems, a modern central bank, and democratic media.

In the five years between the outbreak of fighting and the end of 1998, ECHO (the European Community Humanitarian Office) has granted EURO 1,623 million to the victims of the conflict in former Yugoslavia.

• The CAFAO programme aimed at building confidence between the two administrations of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the field of customs and taxation, and contributing to the reconstruction of the fiscal sector. The programme is funded under B7-544 "Customs and taxation, assistance missions to the Republics of former Yugoslavia", which is managed by DG XXI. The first year of operation in 1996 was conceived as a pilot action, the programme received EURO 7,44 million from B7-7002 "Participation in the application of economic sanctions and trade embargoes by the international community". In late 1996, budget line B7-544 was created, and a total of EURO 17,98 million were committed for the CAFAO programme in 1997 and 1998.

• Refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina residing in EU Member States can also benefit from aid schemes through B7-6008, "voluntary repatriation of refugees, displaced persons and asylum seekers to their country of origin", managed by the Task Force on Justice and Home Affairs of the Secretariat General of the European Commission.

• Assistance is provided under the Democracy programme (B7-700).

• Bosnia and Herzegovina is eligible to the DG XI managed LIFE (environment) programme which in 1998 funded two projects for a total of 531,000 EURO ("institutional strengthening of MAP office" and "sustainable rehabilitation of urban environmental systems").