Brussels, 21/03/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 21 March, European Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn called on Bosnia-Herzegovina to commit to essential reforms by the start of May in order for the country to be able to continue on its European path. Bosnia-Herzegovina submitted its application for EU accession on 15 February 2016 (see EUROPE 11490).
“A decision is needed by the end of April or start of May at the latest on the issues that are outstanding - the adaptation of the association and stabilisation agreement, a functional consultation mechanism with the EU (and) progress on the reform agenda”, Hahn said at a press conference in Sarajevo with the chairman of Bosnia-Herzegovina's Council of Ministers, Denis Zvizdic. He also underlined the importance of publishing the result of the population census.
Hahn stated that if Bosnia-Herzegovina fulfilled its obligations by the agreed date, it would enable the Council of the EU to ask the European Commission to send the questionnaire, before the summer break (“which means in July”). This is a questionnaire that all countries aspiring to become an EU candidate must complete. It includes several thousand questions, which will then help the Council decide whether or not to grant Bosnia-Herzegovina candidate status. “We will be able to keep this ambitious timetable of having a final decision on the future status of the country by, I would say, the end of 2017”, he added. “Not a second should be lost”, he said on several occasions.
Hahn concluded that if the Commission was not asked to send the questionnaire before the summer, it would then be a case of waiting another six months. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)