Accession Of Bosnia And Herzegovina To The European Union

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The accession of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the European Union is the stated aim of the present relations between the two entities. Bosnia and Herzegovina has been recognised by the EU as a "candidate country" for accession since the decision of the European Council in 2022 and is on the current agenda for future enlargement of the EU. Bosnia and Herzegovina takes part in the Stabilisation and Association Process and trade relations are regulated by an Interim Agreement.

Bosnia and Herzegovina formally applied for EU membership on 15 February 2016, following years of constitutional reforms and engagements with the Dayton Peace Agreement. The failure of Bosnia to meet the conditions for the closure of the Office of the High Representative (OHR) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including addressing state and military property ownership issues and implementing constitutional reforms, had prevented the country from submitting an application until 2016.

On 9 December 2016, Bosnia and Herzegovina received the accession questionnaire from the European Commission and the responses to the questionnaire were submitted in February 2018. On 20 June 2018, the European Commission sent 655 follow-up questions to the Questionnaire. Presidency Chairman of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the time, Milorad Dodik, handed over the answers to the additional questions on 5 March 2019. An opinion on Bosnia's application was published by the European Commission in May 2019. Twenty-two policy and political criteria questions were still unanswered when Bosnia and Herzegovina submitted its latest response on 5 March 2019. It remains a potential candidate country until it can successfully answer all of the questions on the European Commission's questionnaire sheet as well as "ensure the functioning of the Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee and develop a national programme for the adoption of the EU acquis".

On 12 October 2022, the European Commission recommended that candidate status be granted to Bosnia and Herzegovina by the Council, on the understanding that a number of steps are taken. These include the fulfillment of 14 key concepts proposed by the EU that seek progress in the strengthening of democracy and human rights, as well as 8 further objectives that must be met: "judicial reform, prevention of conflicts of interests, fight against corruption and organised crime, border and migration management, media freedom, protection of journalists and the creation of preventive mechanisms against torture and ill- treatment." On 15 December 2022, the European Council officially granted candidacy status to Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is one of eight current EU candidate countries, together with Albania, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine.