Bosnia and Herzegovina has moved a step closer to receiving almost €1 billion in European Union funds after the European Commission approved its programme of reforms needed to become a member state.
The approval makes Bosnia eligible for up to €976.6 million from a wider €6 billion plan the EU created for the western Balkans during the economic shock of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which hit the region’s economies and raised concerns about national stability.
Candidates can receive money before accession because the EU allows early payments when a country commits to reforms considered essential.
Valentina Superti, the EC official responsible for the western Balkans, said on December 3 at the Bruegel Institute that the process is shaped by the governments themselves rather than dictated by Brussels.
“This is a bottom-up exercise,” she said, explaining that the EC makes suggestions but does not impose priorities. Countries “tell us what they’d like to focus on”, Superti added.
The broader funding scheme was launched in 2023 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Bosnia was identified as a potential candidate for EU membership by the EC in 2003, and applied for EU membership in 2016, becoming a formal candidate in 2022 although progress since then has been slow.
EU assessments consistently place it among the weakest performers in the region on governance, rule of law and legislative output, with limited progress on judicial and anti-corruption reforms.
Financial support has nonetheless been substantial — from yearly pre-accession funds to major investment grants. The latest €976.6 million allocation, though, was cut by 10 per cent after Bosnia submitted its Reform Agenda late.
That reduction was seen in Brussels as a sign that the country’s institutions struggle to act even when significant funding depends on it.
The EC’s assessments also point to slow progress in key areas such as governance, the rule of law, judicial reform, public administration and anti-corruption efforts, all of which shape how effectively Bosnia can gain and use EU money.
The bloc has tied Bosnia’s membership prospects to far-reaching changes in these fields. It expects improvements in the independence and functioning of the judiciary, better legislative output, stronger oversight bodies, clearer administrative procedures and reforms that address long-standing political blockages.
Bosnia has repeatedly pledged to make these adjustments but EU reports continue to show gaps between commitments and implementation, leaving the country behind others in the region that are progressing faster toward accession.
Nina Vujanović, who leads research projects on the economic implications of EU enlargement at Bruegel, said Bosnia’s economic relationship with the EU is already deeply asymmetric.
The EU runs a clear trade surplus with the country, while Bosnia relies heavily on European investment to keep its economy functioning. She said many western Balkan economies have been designed around this dependency, exporting less and attracting foreign direct investment to fill the gap.
Vujanović added that enlargement policy has long missed a stronger economic dimension and that candidate countries need to prepare for very different growth models once they join.
She said the region tends to innovate by “copying” existing EU practices, which works up to a point but will require a shift if Bosnia wants to compete inside the single market.
