That we need and want to join the Union as a country – we planned more than two decades ago. Despite a clearly defined goal, we spent years on declarative statements with very few concrete moves. But it’s not like there weren’t any at all. In the whole process, BH the authorities have taken several key steps that have definitely paved the way to the European Union. We highlight the most important segments of the road to the EU, but also what awaits us.
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s path towards the European Union has been going on for years. Declarative – bh. committed leaders, in practice – their own interests above the requirements of the European Union. The first step was already in 1997, when the Council of Ministers of the European Union set the political and economic conditions for the development of bilateral relations. In 1999, the Stabilization and Association Process began. In 2004, the Council of the European Union adopted the first partnership with our country, and in 2005, negotiations on the stabilization and association agreement, which was signed in 2008, were initiated.
Only on February 15, 2016, Bosnia and Herzegovina submitted an application for membership in the European Union. The following year, instead of candidate status, the European Commission Questionnaire with 3,242 questions. After 14 months of answering, in 2018 the answers were delivered, but, again, instead of a step forward, the European Commission sets 14 key priorities. Despite the slow implementation and harmonization with the legislation of the European Union, December 2022 brought the candidate status. The priorities remained, but the momentum in fulfilling the necessary conditions became noticeable.
In the year behind us, as the president of the European Commission said on March 12, more was done than in the previous 10 and that, along with the Union’s policy towards the Western Balkans and the geopolitical situation, was reason enough for the Commission to propose to the European Council the opening of negotiations. Amendments to the Law on the HJPC of BiH, the law on the organization of the wine market, foreigners, the ombudsman, freedom of access to information, the law on the prevention of conflicts of interest and the prevention of money laundering and financing of terrorist organizations have passed the parliamentary procedure. There is still much to do, and among the priorities are certainly the new law on the HJPC, the law on the court, the Constitutional Court, the Election Law, but also amendments to the Constitution that would enable the implementation of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. Done certainly welcomed, but is it enough? And what, actually, remains after the opening of negotiations?
After the opening of negotiations, a new job follows. Screening determines the legal acquis and concludes what needs to be resolved. When the negotiations are completed, their results are included in the draft accession treaty, which is then harmonized. The European Commission gives its opinion, the Parliament gives its consent, and only after ratification by all member states – the contract enters into force and the negotiating state becomes a member. But about that later. That all this can take a long time is an example of the neighboring countries.
Slovenia was the first of the SFRY countries to become a member of the Union, in the largest expansion with 9 more countries – in 2004. Croatia applied for membership in 2003, started negotiations much faster than BiH – only two years later, but officially became a member in 2013. Bosnia and Herzegovina remained the only country of the former republic that did not open accession negotiations. The path from submission of requests to candidate status for Serbia, Montenegro and North Macedonia went much faster. However, negotiations with neighboring countries have been going on for more than 10 years, while North Macedonia waited much longer from the granting of candidate status to the start of negotiations – as many as 17 years and with the change of the name of the state. Obviously, the membership process is individual. And it is also clear that there is still a lot of work to be done, as well as readiness for an agreement before BiH. politicians, especially due to the necessity of meeting the conditions without which the final goal – membership in the European Union – will remain a declarative goal, Federalna writes.
