Accession of Bosnia and Herzegovina To The European Union

The accession of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the European Union is the aim of the present relations between the two entities. Bosnia and Herzegovina has been recognised by the EU as a "potential candidate country" for accession since the decision of the European Council in Thessaloniki in 2003. Bosnia and Herzegovina takes part in the Stabilization and Association Process, and the relative bilateral SAA agreement has been signed in 2008, ratified in 2010, but it is still not into force. Meanwhile, the trade bilateral relations are regulated by an Interim Agreement. Bosnia has not yet formally applied for EU membership, and it thus remains a potential candidate country.

The nation has recently been making slow but steady progress, including co-operation with the war crimes tribunal at The Hague.

The EU established a regional approach to the Western Balkans already in 1997, with political and economic conditionality criteria for the development of bilateral relations. The following year, a EU/Bosnia and Herzegovina Consultative Task Force was put in place to start the process. Since 2006, the task force is replaced by the Reform Process Monitoring (RPM).