EU leaders open door to accession negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina

European heads of state and government opened the door to accession negotiations with Bosnia-Herzegovina at a summit in Brussels on Thursday.

European leaders “have just decided to open accession negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina,” European Council President Charles Michel announced. “This decision is an important step on the path to the European Union. Now the hard work must continue so that Bosnia and Herzegovina continues to make steady progress.”

Sarajevo still has some homework to do before the concrete start of the negotiations. In the summit conclusions, leaders ask the European Commission to “prepare the negotiating framework, with a view to its adoption when all relevant steps have been taken.” This includes judicial reforms and measures to combat corruption and organized crime.

Ukraine and Moldova also experience that some time may elapse between the decision in principle and the actual start of the accession negotiations. The two countries were given the green light in December, but the Commission only recently completed the preparation of the negotiating framework. Leaders are now asking their ministers to “promptly adopt” these frameworks and move forward without delay.

In the run-up to the summit, some Member States pushed for a concrete timing for the adoption of the negotiating frameworks for Ukraine and Moldova, especially in June. Negotiations could thus be started under the Belgian presidency. However, the leaders did not specify a date in the final conclusions. (belga)