On Monday 5 September, the European commissioner for enlargement negotiations, Johannes Hahn, and the president of the Council Ministers of Bosnia & Herzegovina, Denis Zvizdic, expressed hopes that the ministers for European affairs of the 28 member states will officially call upon the European Commission on Tuesday 20 September to send Sarajevo the questionnaire to be filled in by all countries aspiring to become candidates for accession to the European Union.
This assessment, which runs to several thousand questions, will help the Council to decide whether or not to grant Bosnia & Herzegovina candidate status. This will therefore mark a new stage in its journey to becoming an official candidate to join the EU.
"I am confident that at the forthcoming meeting of the General Affairs Council, and this is also the intention of the Slovak Presidency of the EU, the Commission will be asked to move forward and to send off the famous questionnaire", said Hahn, at a joint press conference with Zvizdic. The latter hopes that the ministers will recognise the "efforts of the Bosnian authorities". He stressed that moving forward on the European path was the first and foremost of Bosnia & Herzegovina's priorities in terms of foreign policy, that there was no alternative and that the country was fully committed to this.
The president of the Bosnian Council reiterated that the three conditions asked of Sarajevo in order for it to be able to make progress on its European journey had been met: it has made progress in the reforms, it has implemented a coordination mechanism on European affairs and it adapted the association and stabilisation agreement upon the accession of Croatia to the EU. As regards the last of these points, however, Hahn has called for a signature, as the adaptation protocol has only been initialled (see EUROPE 11597). It is important that work on the reforms agenda continue, he added.
The Commission also welcomed the country's progress, which he described as "significant in economic terms", in exports, tourism and reducing unemployment. Zvizdic reiterated his country's commitment to more economic development and to reinforcing the rule of law. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)