The EU27 leaders, meeting in Brussels on Thursday 21 March, decided to follow the recommendations made by the European Commission and open EU accession negotiations with Bosnia-Herzegovina (see EUROPE 13369/1).
“The European Council has just decided to open accession negotiations with Bosnia-Herzegovina. Congratulations! Your place is in our European family. Today’s decision is a key step forward on your EU path. Now the hard work needs to continue so Bosnia and Herzegovina steadily advances, as your people want”, commented the President of the European Council, Charles Michel.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, also welcomed the decision, saying that the Western Balkan country had made more progress “in just over a year than in over a decade”. “Let’s hope that the decision will lead to even greater progress”, she added.
The decision taken by the leaders of the Member States was quickly echoed in Sarajevo, where some politicians were quick to react to the European Council’s decision.
“Mutual determination and effort have resulted in achieving the necessary level of compliance with the requirements and criteria. We remain strongly determined to continue the work that will result in further progress and development of Bosnia and Herzegovina”, said the Chairwoman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Borjana Krišto.
Although the heads of state or government of the Member States have decided to open negotiations, the process will not get off the ground until the negotiating framework has been adopted by the EU Council. According to the European Council’s conclusions, the framework can be discussed and - ultimately - adopted by the EU27 “as soon as all the relevant measures set out in the Commission’s recommendation of 12 October 2022 have been taken”. A number of Member States had strongly emphasised this point in the run-up to the European Council.
The subject had also been debated in the national parliaments of several Member States in recent weeks, notably in the Netherlands. Two days before the European summit, some sources told Agence Europe that they were cautious about the outcome of the discussions led by the European leaders (see EUROPE 13375/1).
This was not the case, according to Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, who assured Agence Europe that the subject had been quickly cleared. “There wasn’t much discussion on the subject, it was more a question of political management”, he summarised.
Bosnia and Herzegovina has been in the EU’s antechamber since February 2016, when it applied to join the European Union. Last December, the question of opening negotiations had already been on the table of European leaders. On that occasion, they decided to abide by the Commission’s recommendations, which at the time were to wait until “the necessary degree of compliance with the accession criteria has been achieved” (see EUROPE 13314/1). (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)