Brussels, 20/01/2003 (Agence Europe) - Following the formation of the Council of Ministers in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Greek Presidency of the EU issued the following declaration on 16 January: "The EU welcomes the formation of the Council of Ministers in Bosnia and Herzegovina and congratulates the newly appointed members of the Council of Ministers. The fact that the term in office of the elected officials will be extended to four years from the present two, under the terms of the election law, gives to the new government the opportunity to pursue a significantly more ambitious and practical policy agenda. The EU would like to reiterate its readiness to work closely with the new State government, which should be genuinely committed to the quality and intensity of the reform process that Bosnia and Herzegovina needs in order to move closer to the EU. The EU will continue to be strongly committed to the European future of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In this context, a feasibility study by the European Commission will be the next step. It has to be clear however, that the ultimate responsibility for progress in this course to Europe lies with the State and entity authorities. The EU urges the members of the new State government to work jointly, rapidly and intently on carrying out all the necessary Stabilisation and Association Process (SAP) reforms in order for Bosnia and Herzegovina to move from stabilisation to association. To this end, Bosnia and Herzegovina has to speed up efforts to adopt European standards for Rule of Law, functioning of state institutions, fight against organised crime, sustainable return of refugees and IDPs, full cooperation with ICTY, establishing state level civilian command and control over Armed Forces. The EU hopes that shortly the formation of entity governments will follow."