While B&H farmers have lost the opportunity to withdraw funds from EU rural development funds, Croatian farmers have withdrawn record amounts from these funds, which makes 2013 their most successful year of implementation of the IPARD program.
A record 187.93 million kuna to 113 completed projects was paid in 2013 and has lead to the development of rural business and generally better quality of life.
Bosnia and Herzegovina has unfortunately lost the chance to experience these benefits. Several million euros for agricultural and rural development remained unavailable. Although civil society organizations, gathered in the framework of Citizens for Europe, urged the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina to urgently agree on the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance in Rural Development, in order to avoid a multimillion-dollar loss of funds necessary for the development and to alleviate stagnation in the sector and reduce the potential negative impacts of the accession process of countries in the region to the European Union, nothing has been done.
