The accession of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the European Union is the stated aim
of the present relations between the two entities. Bosnia and Herzegovina has
been recognised by the EU as a "potential candidate country" for
accession since the decision of the European Council in Thessaloniki in
2003. Bosnia and Herzegovina takes part in the Stabilisation and Association
Process, and the relative bilateral SAA agreement has been signed in 2008,
ratified in 2010, and entered into force in 2015. Meanwhile, the trade bilateral
relations are regulated by an Interim Agreement. Bosnia has not yet formally
applied for EU membership, and it thus remains a potential candidate country.
The nation had been making slow but steady progress, including co-operation
with the war crimes tribunal at The Hague, but this came to a halt in 2011
when the EU refused to ratify the Stabilisation and Association Accord.
The EU established a regional approach to the Western Balkans already in 1997,
with political and economic conditionality criteria for the
development of bilateral relations. The following year, a EU/Bosnia and
Herzegovina Consultative Task Force was put in place to start the process. Since
2006, the task force is replaced by the Reform Process Monitoring.
Stabilisation and Association Process A Stabilisation and Association Process
for the five countries of the region, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, was
proposed in 1999. In June 2000, the European Council in Feira recognised
that all the SAP countries are "potential candidates" for EU
membership. In November of the same year, the regional SAP process was
launched at the Zagreb summit. The process towards the signature of a
Stabilisation and Association Agreement began in 2003 with a feasibility study
by the Commission on Bosnia and Herzegovina's capacity to implement the
SAA. The same year, in June, the European Council in Thessaloniki
confirmed the SAP as the main framework of the relations between the EU and the
Western Balkans, recalling the perspective of accession for all the
countries of the region. = Stabilisation and Association
Agreement = Negotiations on a Stabilisation and
Association Agreement – required before applying for membership – started in
2005 and were originally expected to be finalised in late 2007. However,
negotiations stalled due to a disagreement over police reform, which
the EU insisted on centralising away from the entities of Bosnia and
Herzegovina. The SAA was initialled on 4 December 2007 by caretaker Prime
Minister Nikola Špirić. The initialing came in the wake of successful
negotiations by Miroslav Lajčák in regards to passing his new quorum rules
laws and also the commitment of Bosnian and Herzegovinian politicians to
implementing police reform. Following the adoption of the police reforms in
April 2008, the agreement was signed on 16 June 2008. Reforms promised by the
Prud Agreement would "build the ability of the State to meet the requirements of
the EU integration process". The final EU state to ratify the SAA,
France, did so in February 2011. The SAA should have entered into effect within
40 days but was frozen since Bosnia had not complied with its previous
obligations, which would have led to the immediate suspension of the SAA. The
obligations to be met by Bosnia before the SAA can come into force include the
adoption of a law on state aids and a national census, and implementation of
the Finci and Sejdic ruling of the ECHR requiring an amendment to the
Constitution to allow members of minorities to be elected to the
Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina and to gain seats in the House of Peoples.
The EU has also required that the country create a single unified body to
manage their relations with the EU. The adoption of state laws on the issues
above are prevented by the opposition of the government of the Republika Srpska,
which considers such issues a matter of exclusive competence of the two entities
of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Germany–United Kingdom Initiative
for Bosnia and Herzegovina, agreed to by the EU in late 2014, proposed that the
SAA enter into force without first implementing the constitutional
amendments required by Finci and Sejdic, provided that Bosnian authorities
approve a declaration pledging their commitment to making the reforms
required for European integration. The declaration was jointly signed by the
tripartite presidency on 29 January, and approved by parliament on 23 February.
The Council of the EU approved the SAA's entry into force on 16 March 2015. The
SAA entered into force on 1 June 2015. = Interim Agreement on Trade =
An Interim Agreement on Trade and Trade-related issues was signed on the
same day as the SAA, and entered into force on 1 July 2008. The Interim
Agreement is the present legal framework for trade between Bosnia and the EU.
Unilateral trade preferences were introduced by the EU for Bosnia and
Herzegovina in the year 2000. Trade increased since 2008, and the EU
products have been granted reciprocal preference in Bosnia and Herzegovina
too. Status of SAA ratification
= Notes = (brackets): earliest possible date
N/A: Not applicable. Application for membership
The EU stated early on that Bosnia could not submit a credible application for
membership until the Office of the High Representative in Bosnia and
Herzegovina, which is charged with implementation of the Dayton Peace
Agreement, has been closed. The failure of Bosnia to meet the conditions for
closure of the OHR, including addressing state and military property ownership
issues and implementing constitutional reforms, has prevented them from
submitting an application to date. According to the Foreign Minister Sven
Alkalaj, Bosnia and Herzegovina planned to submit an application for membership
between April and June 2009. However, an application ultimately was not submitted
in this time frame. In February 2010, Alkalaj stated that Bosnia now planned
to submit their membership application by the end of the year. This was
reiterated by Alkalaj in August. A European Commission source stated in
late 2010 that "We believe that in one year's time the OHR will be closed, or
at least reduced and moved from Sarajevo", which would clear the way for
an application to be submitted. After more than a year of negotiations
following the 2010 Bosnian general election, which stalled progress on
European integration, an agreement was reached by the rival parties in December
2011 on the formation of a government which quickly passed laws on state aid
and a national census, two key demands of the EU. With the national census
scheduled for October 2013, this left bringing the constitution into
compliance with the Finci and Sejdic ruling of the ECHR as the lone remaining
major obstacle to be overcome before an application could be submitted.
Vjekoslav Bevanda, the chair of the Bosnian Council of Ministers, stated in
early 2012 that "I expect that we shall fulfill conditions for submitting the
application for EU membership by June 30".
In June 2012 the EU Special Representative to Bosnia Peter Sørensen
stated that "under ideal circumstances" Bosnia could obtain candidate status by
early 2014. The EU presented Bosnia with a roadmap to submitting an application
for membership in July 2012. It called for making the constitutional changes
required by the Finci and Sejdic ruling by August 31 and addressing public
procurement and environmental protection issues by November 1, when an
application could be submitted. However, by January 2013 the targets had not been
met and the previously agreed to census was postponed from April to October. In
December 2015, Dragan Čović, the Chairmen of the Presidency of Bosnia and
Herzegovina, said the country would submit an application in Jaunary 2015.
= European Partnership = The EU Council adopted a new European
Partnership with Bosnia and Herzegovina on 18 February 2008, setting the
short-term and mid-term priorities for EU assistance to Bosnia and Herzegovina
through IPA funds. = Financial Assistance =
In the 2007–2013 budgetary period, Bosnia and Herzegovina is a beneficiary
of the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance funds. As a "potential
candidate country", Bosnia is allowed to finance projects under the first two IPA
components, Transition Assistance and Institution Building and Cross-Border
Cooperation. The eligibility for the three advanced IPA components will be
conditional on Bosnia’s acquisition of EU candidacy status and its
implementation of a Decentralised Implementation System, streamlining
administrative capacities in order to autonomously manage projects and
disburse funds with only ex post Commission controls. The priorities for
IPA action for Bosnia are set in the 2008 European Partnership.
= Visa liberalisation process = On 1 January 2008 the visa facilitation
and readmission agreements between Bosnia and the EU entered into force.
Bosnia and Herzegovina took part in the dialogue for visa liberalisation with
Schengen countries, launched by the European Commission on 26 May 2008. On
November 8, 2010 the Council of the European Union approved visa-free travel
to the EU for citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The decision entered into
force on 15 December 2010. = CFSP and ESDP operations =
In 2004, the European Union Police Mission launched in Bosnia and
Herzegovina constitutes the first European Security and Defence Policy
mission. The same year, the EUFOR replaces NATO's SFOR mission.
= EU special representative = Peter Sørensen took over the position of
EUSR in Bosnia and Herzegovina from September 2011 until October 2014. His
post was de-coupled from the one of High Representative for Bosnia and
Herzegovina, aiming at fostering the EU pre-accession strategy for Bosnia and
Herzegovina. See also
Germany–United Kingdom Initiative for Bosnia and Herzegovina
Enlargement of the European Union External links
[1] European Commission, DG Enlargement, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Text of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement between Bosnia and
Herzegovina and the EU Text of the Interim Agreement on Trade
and Trade-related issues Text of the European Partnership for
Bosnia and Herzegovina Dominik Tolksdorf The Difficulties of
the European Union in Supporting the Europeanization of Bosnia and
Herzegovina EU Frontier Policy Paper, Budapest: Center for EU Enlargement
Studies – Central European University, 2011
References