On Tuesday 20 September, the General Affairs Council called on the European Commission to assess Bosnia-Herzegovina’s application for EU accession.
Sarajevo officially submitted its application on 15 February last (see EUROPE 11490). The Commission will now prepare a questionnaire of around 2,000 questions to which the country must respond. This exercise is expected to last between one and two years. The Council will then use this questionnaire to decide whether it agrees on granting the country candidate status.
In the conclusions it adopted, the Council welcomes the progress the country has made in implementing its reform agenda and calls on it to continue its efforts in this respect. It warned, however, that "this should continue to include reforms in the area of rule of law and public administration, as well as socio-economic reforms". It also welcomed the paragraph in the protocol on the adaptation of the stabilisation and association agreement (SAA), which takes into account Croatia's accession to the EU and points out that the SAA was an "important factor in the commitment of the country to the European integration process” (see EUROPE 11597). Ministers also welcomed the agreement on establishing a coordination mechanism on European questions (see EUROPE 11608) and called on all levels of government in Bosnia-Herzegovina to ensure its effective implementation.
The Council calls on the Commission to put forward a new report on implementing the reform programme, including the coordination mechanism. The conclusions also point out that "when preparing its opinion on the membership application of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Council asks the Commission to pay particular attention to the implementation of the Sejdić-Finci ruling". This ruling focuses on the constitution's compliance with the decision of the European Court of Human Rights.
The Slovak Presidency says it is satisfied with the Council conclusions. The Slovak secretary of state, Ivan Korčok, said that "this demonstrates that the enlargement policy is credible. Bosnia-Herzegovina has worked extremely hard to meet the conditions outlined and obtain the appropriate results". When he arrived at the Council, Korčok said that this was a "good day" for Sarajevo and the EU. The commissioner for enlargement negotiations, Johannes Hahn, also welcomed, on Twitter, the decision of the Council and added that "the Commission is ready to work with Bosnia-Herzegovina on this important step towards European integration". (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)