Acquiring candidate status is an important milestone for Bosnia and Herzegovina on its path to the European Union, it is a clear message to the citizens of BiH that their future is in the European Union, Ana Pisonero, European Commission spokeswoman, told FENA.
As she explained in her statement to FENA, the candidate status is a sign that the country is making progress on its path to the EU, but it is also an incentive for decision-makers to do more to satisfy the aspirations of the country’s citizens for reforms that will lead to EU membership.
“Our offer also comes with high expectations. The path to the EU is open, but it requires the country to implement reforms. It is up to the political leaders to make it a reality. Now we expect the rapid establishment of legislative and executive bodies at all levels of government in order to focus on the reforms that need to be done on the path to the EU,” stated Pisonero.
She underlined that Bosnia and Herzegovina needs to strengthen and advance in reforms, especially in the rule of law, the judiciary, the fight against organized crime and corruption, and migration management.
She also reminded that the 14 key priorities listed in the Commission’s Opinion remain unchanged and that they cannot be negotiated, but must be fulfilled by BiH before the Commission considers giving a recommendation for opening negotiations on EU accession.
When asked if there are any assumptions about when BiH could open accession negotiations, i.e. the first chapters, Pisonero emphasized that before it is recommended to open negotiations on EU accession, Bosnia and Herzegovina must fulfill the 14 key priorities, adding that the Commission annually reports on the implementation of those priorities in the report on the enlargement package.
European Commission spokeswoman Ana Pisonero clearly emphasized that accession to the European Union is a merit-based process and that the speed of accession negotiations depends on the speed of reforms and the fulfillment of the obligations of the candidate countries, starting with fundamental areas such as democracy, the rule of law and respect for fundamental rights.
“The conditions are clear and it is up to the candidate countries to fulfill them. Therefore, it is not possible to set any final time frames for when some of the countries would become EU members because the process is in the hands of our partners,” concluded European Commission spokeswoman Ana Pisonero in a conversation with FENA.
