EU cancels projects worth 5 million Euros in Bosnia

The IPA Monitoring Committee co-chair Paola Pampalonia visited Sarajevo on Tuesday to inform local authorities that two projects financed through IPA programs will be canceled for Bosnia and Herzegovina, due to their failure to make progress.
In June and July, several projects supporting agricultural, small and medium enterprises, as well as the tourism industry, had been suspended since authorities could not agree on the next steps in their implementation. Two of these suspended projects are now canceled, bringing a loss of more than 5 million Euros. At the same time, the cancellation will prevent the timely set-up of structures to channel the future EU fund to rural areas in Bosnia.
A statement issued by the Delegation of the EU to Bosnia and Herzegovina said that “while the EU is fully committed to assist Bosnia and Herzegovina to move down its EU path including financial support through IPA funds, it must also ensure that the funds provided by the EU Member States' taxpayers are used effectively.''
 “The cancellation of these projects underlines the urgency to set up a functional coordination mechanism to ensure that the country and its population are able to receive EU pre-accession funds in the future.”
The Committee gave Bosnian authorities a deadline until October 1 to come to an agreement on five more projects, two projects supporting tourism which have been suspended since July, two planned projects fostering social inclusion and one ongoing project strengthening the National Planning Process.