Accession of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the European Union

Bosnia and Herzegovina's EU accession bid EU member state average Bosnia and Herzegovina PPP GDP ($M) 552,780 42,998 Area (km2) 165,048 51,197 Population 18,583,598 4,613,289 Status Stabilisation and Association

Bosnia and Herzegovina

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Constitution Dayton Agreement Peace Implementation Council High Representative Valentin Inzko Presidency Željko Komšić (Chairman) Nebojša Radmanović Bakir Izetbegović Cabinet Prime Minister Vjekoslav Bevanda Parliament House of Peoples House of Representatives Political parties Elections 2002 2006 2010 Foreign relations EU accession NATO accession Political divisions Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina President Živko Budimir Prime Minister Nermin Nikšić House of Representatives Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik Government Prime Minister Aleksandar Džombić National Assembly Speaker Igor Radojičić Brčko District

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The accession of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the European Union is the 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 Stabilization and Association Process, and the relative bilateral SAA agreement has been signed in 2008, ratified in 2010, but it is still not into force. 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 has recently been making slow but steady progress, including co-operation with the war crimes tribunal at The Hague.

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 (RPM).

Stabilisation and Association Process

A Stabilisation and Association Process (SAP) 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 (SAA) 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 ther relations between the EU and the Western Balkans, recalling the perspective of accession for all the countries of the region.

Stabilisation and Association Agreement

The negotiations on a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) – the first step before applying for membership – started in 2005 and were originally expected to be finalised in late 2007. The 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, and, following the adoption of the police reforms in April 2008, the SAA 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 last ratification of the SAA by a EU country, France, came in February 2011. The SAA should have gone into effect within 40 days, but its entry into effect was frozen since Bosnia and Herzegovina was still not complying with its previous obligations, a situation that would have led to the immediate suspension of the SAA. The obligations to be met by Bosnia before the SAA could come into effect include the adoption of state laws on state aids and on the national census, and the implementation of the Finci and Sejdic ruling of the ECHR requiring an amendment to the Constitution to allow members of national minorities to be elected within the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina and to gain seats in the House of Peoples. 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.

Status of SAA ratification

Event	Republic of Macedonia	Croatia	Albania	Montenegro1	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Serbia2	Kosovo (under UNSCR 1244)3
SAA negotiations start	2000-04-05	2000-11-24	2003-01-31	2005-10-10	2005-11-25	2005-10-10	(?)
SAA initialled	2000-11-24	2001-05-14	2006-02-28	2007-03-15	2007-12-04	2007-11-07	(?)
SAA/IA signature	2001-04-09	2001-10-29	2006-06-12	2007-10-15	2008-06-16	2008-04-29	(?)
Interim Agreement:
EC ratification	2001-04-27	2002-01-30	2006-06-12	2007-10-15	2008-06-16	2009-12-08	(?)
SAP state ratification	2001-04-27	2002-01-30	2006-10-09	2007-11-14	2008-06-20	2008-09-22	(?)
entry into force	2001-06-01	2002-03-01	2006-12-01	2008-01-01	2008-07-01	2010-02-01	(?)
Notification of the EC of SAA ratification by:
SAP state	2001-04-27	2002-01-30	2006-11-09	2007-11-13	2009-02-26	2008-09-22	(?)
Austria	2002-09-06	2002-03-15	2008-05-21	2008-07-04	2009-09-04	2011-01-13	(?)
Belgium	2003-12-29	2003-12-17	2008-10-22	2010-03-29	2010-03-29	(2012)	(?)
Bulgaria	entered the EU later			2008-05-30	2009-03-13	2010-08-12	(?)
Cyprus	entered the EU later		2008-05-30	2008-11-20	2009-07-02	2010-11-26	(?)
Czech Republic	entered the EU later		2008-05-07	2009-02-19	2009-07-23	2011-01-28	(?)
Denmark	2002-04-10	2002-05-08	2008-04-24	2008-06-25	2009-05-26	2011-03-04	(?)
Estonia	entered the EU later		2007-10-17	2007-11-22	2008-09-11	2010-08-19	(?)
Finland	2004-01-06	2004-01-06	2007-11-29	2009-03-18	2009-04-07	2011-10-21	(?)
France	2003-06-04	2003-06-04	2009-02-12	2009-07-30	2011-02-10	2012-01-16	(?)
Germany	2002-06-20	2002-10-18	2009-02-19	2009-11-16	2009-08-14	2011-02-10	(?)
Greece	2003-08-27	2003-08-27	2009-02-26	2010-03-04	2010-09-20	2011-03-10	(?)
Hungary	entered the EU later		2007-04-23	2008-05-14	2008-10-22	2010-11-16	(?)
Ireland	2002-05-06	2002-05-06	2007-06-11	2009-06-04	2009-06-04	2011-09-29	(?)
Italy	2003-10-30	2004-10-06	2008-01-07	2009-10-13	2010-09-08	2011-01-06	(?)
Latvia	entered the EU later		2006-12-19	2008-10-17	2009-11-12	2011-05-30	(?)
Lithuania	entered the EU later		2007-05-17	2009-03-04	2009-05-04	(2012)	(?)
Luxembourg	2003-07-28	2003-08-01	2007-07-04	2009-06-11	2010-12-22	2011-01-21	(?)
Malta	entered the EU later		2008-04-21	2008-12-11	2010-01-07	2010-07-06	(?)
Netherlands	2002-09-09	2004-04-30	2007-12-10	2009-01-29	2009-09-30	2011-12-21	(?)
Poland	entered the EU later		2007-04-14	2009-02-06	2010-04-07	2012-01-13	(?)
Portugal	2003-07-14	2003-07-14	2008-07-11	2008-09-23	2009-06-29	2011-03-04	(?)
Romania	entered the EU later			2009-01-15	2010-01-08	(2012)	(?)
Slovakia	entered the EU later		2007-07-20	2008-07-29	2009-03-17	2010-11-11	(?)
Slovenia	entered the EU later		2007-01-18	2008-02-07	2009-03-10	2010-12-07	(?)
Spain	2002-10-04	2002-10-04	2007-05-03	2009-03-12	2010-06-15	2010-06-21	(?)
Sweden	2002-06-25	2003-03-27	2007-03-21	2009-03-11	2009-09-14	2011-04-15	(?)
United Kingdom	2002-12-17	2004-09-03	2007-10-16	2010-01-12	2010-04-20	2011-08-11	(?)
European Communities	2004-02-25	2004-12-21	2009-02-26	2010-03-29	(2012)4	(2012)	(?)
SAA entry into force	2004-04-01	2005-02-01	2009-04-01	2010-05-01	(2012)4	(2012)	(?)

(brackets): earliest possible date
italics: ratified by parliament but awaiting notification of decision to the EC
¹ For Montenegro, negotiations started in November 2005 while a part of Serbia and Montenegro. Separate technical negotiations were conducted regarding issues sub-state organizational competency. Mandate for direct negotiations with Montenegro established in July 2006. Direct negotiations were initiated on 26 September 2006 and concluded on 1 December 2006.

² For Serbia, negotiations started in November 2005 (as part of SiM, modified mandate from July 2006).

³ For Kosovo, a partially recognized breakaway province of Serbia, negotiations on a Stabilisation Tracking Mechanism began in 2003 and are still ongoing. The EU is still divided on how exactly to continue the SAP with Kosovo, as some of its members remain opposed to Kosovo's independence.

⁴ Although ratified by all member states, the entry into force of Bosnia's SAA has been delayed due to the fact that Bosnia has yet to make the required constitutional amendments.

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.

European Partnership (2008)

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 (IPA) 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

Bosnia and Herzegovina took part in the dialogue for visa liberalisation with Schengen countries, launched by the European Commission on 26 May 2008. On 1 January 2008 the visa facilitation and readmission agreements entered into force. On November 8, 2010 the Council of the European Union voted visa-free travel to EU for citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

CFSP and ESDP operations

In 2004, the European Union Police Mission (EUPM) launched in Bosnia and Herzegovina constitutes the first European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) mission. The same year, the EUFOR (operation Althea) replaces NATO's SFOR mission.

EU special representative

Since 2007, the international High Representative (OHR) in Bosnia covers also the task of EU Special Representative. The first 'double-hatted' OHR is Miroslav Lajcak.

Application for membership

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.

The EU had early stated that Bosnia could not submit an application for membership until the Office of the High Representative (OHR) 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 applicaton to date. However, a European Commission source has stated 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.

See also

• Enlargement of the European Union

External links

• [2] 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