Intergovernmental negotiations on development cooperation between Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Federal Republic of Germany were held on November 7, 2024 in Berlin.
In addition to the representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of BiH who led the delegation, there were also representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations, the Ministry of Finance and Treasury, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and the Public Administration Reform Coordinator’s Office, as well as representatives of the institutions of the Federation of BiH.
Bilateral relations between BiH and FR Germany, developed through decades of cooperation, are evidence of a common commitment to development, prosperity and stability, especially at a time when we are facing global challenges, from the effects of climate change to economic recovery and governance reform.
During the negotiations, FR Germany expressed its readiness to continue supporting the development of Bosnia and Herzegovina through cooperation, and undertook to provide Bosnia and Herzegovina with a new amount of 157.7 million euros for bilateral technical and financial cooperation for the period 2024-2025.
Through this cooperation, regional projects that contribute to various sectoral development initiatives related to BiH’s accession to the EU will be implemented.
Amira Mašović, Deputy Coordinator and Aneta Raić, Head of the Unit for Donor Coordination, Finance, Supervision and Evaluation participated in the negotiations in front of the Public Administration Reform Coordinator’s Office.
First of all, they used the opportunity to thank the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany on behalf of the Public Administration Reform Coordinator’s Office for the assistance so far, which was focused and contributed to the development of our capacities. Cooperation with Germany through the “Strengthening Public Institutions Program” implemented by GIZ in the period 2010-2020, and based on the Agreement on Technical Cooperation between Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Federal Republic of Germany from 1995, significantly helped the process of public administration reform in BiH.
As consent was given for the start of negotiations on the accession of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the European Union, taking into account that public administration reform is part of the “fundamental first” (key requirements) and that it is in Cluster 1 (fundamental issues) of the negotiation process (the first, and closes the last one), the need for support in the implementation of the conditions for accession was highlighted.
One of the possible activities would be support in the implementation of the recommendations of the Special Group for Public Administration Reform (PAR SG), then expert/technical support to the Office, as well as support in the implementation of part of the activities from the nationwide PAR Strategic Framework 2018-2027 and the associated Revised Action Plan in the period 2025 -2027.