Toespraak EU-commissaris Rehn over kansen Bosnië-Herzegovina (en)

Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2007: a year of opportunities

State Parliament

Sarajevo, 16 March 2007

Speaker, Your Excellencies, Members of the Parliament,

I am glad to be back in Sarajevo. Let me congratulate all new Ministers and newly elected Parliamentarians. You have a great privilege to serve your country, which brings also great responsibility. I wish you the best of success.

I have just arrived from Montenegro where we initialled the Stabilisation and Association Agreement. It is a major step forward for Montenegro, and a result of country's progress to meet key conditions.

I hope we can soon have the same pleasure to initial the SAA agreement with Bosnia and Herzegovina. But that can happen only once the necessary conditions are met.

Bosnia and Herzegovina is part of the EU pre-accession process. Enlargement of the EU over the past decades is a success story. The pre-accession process has transformed applicant countries into functioning democracies and market economies. It has inspired reforms and consolidated democracy, human rights and the rule of law as the foundation of the society.

The EU leaders have recently renewed their consensus on enlargement. They have kept the EU's doors open to the countries of South Eastern Europe. The EU will stick to our commitment to your European perspective. At the same time, we expect you and the other countries aspiring to join the Union, to fulfil the conditions for closer EU integration.

I am fully aware of the importance that people from the Western Balkans attach to the prospect of a visa free travel. In order to facilitate travelling to Europe and enhance business contacts, the EU is negotiating visa facilitation agreements with all Western Balkan countries. We are entering into the final phases in these negotiations.

Once the visa facilitation and readmission agreements are in force, visas for students and researchers will be free of charge. Frequent travellers, such as businessmen and journalists, will be granted multiple entry visas more easily.

The EU will also take other measures to promote citizen-to-citizen contacts between the Western Balkans and the EU. These include scholarships, co-operation in research, education and culture, participation into Community programmes and agencies, and increased support for civil society dialogue.

Another important regional achievement was the Central European Free Trade Agreement signed in December. The agreement transformed the patchwork of 32 bilateral agreements into one single regional trade agreement. This sends a strong positive signal to potential investors. I am pleased that Bosnia and Herzegovina took the necessary steps to join the CEFTA.

The Stability Pact is being transformed towards greater regional ownership. A Regional Co-operation Council will be established, bringing together representatives of the South East Europe and the international community. The Commission supports this process, and I am grateful for Bosnia and Herzegovina's offer to host the future secretariat in Sarajevo.

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      Dear Friends,

      After a rather positive year in 2005, the year 2006 saw little progress in your country on key reforms. It was perhaps not an " annus horribilis ", but not a good year either. Much more could, and should, have been achieved.

      As a result of the prolonged election campaign, the reform agenda stagnated. Necessary reforms failed or saw little progress. The political climate changed, with nationalist rhetoric rising to the fore. The current disfunctionality of the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina is detrimental to progress. This is hard to understand. Your country benefits nothing from a return to the 1990s mentality.

      Instead, we should make 2007 a year of opportunities for Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is important to change the course - away from nationalist thinking and a zero-sum mentality - and towards restarting the reform agenda and creating a brighter future for the citizens.

      Bosnia and Herzegovina has continued to progress, albeit slowly, towards the European Union. The Stabilisation and Association Agreement will be the first contractual relationship between Bosnia and Herzegovina and the EU. It will create a solid base for closer economic and political integration.

      However, we cannot conclude the SAA negotiations before the necessary conditions have been met. This concerns in particular the police reform and full co-operation with the ICTY.

      But I want to be clear on one point. These reforms are not primarily needed to satisfy the European Union. Reforms are needed for the benefit of your country, and your own citizens. It is a matter of the rule of law, which is the most fundamental European principle.

      We need concrete results on police reform to improve the security and law enforcement in the country. It is important that the state and entity authorities, together with the political parties, finally agree on the reform in line with the Police Directorate's proposal and the three EU principles.

      I am concerned and disappointed for the lack of agreement on the police reform. Without an agreement there will be no SAA.

      The politicians who are responsible for delays in the reforms and blockage of the government are preventing Bosnia and Herzegovina to realise its European aspirations.

      Do you really want to miss the European train by quarrelling endlessly at the station? That is what is now happening. Do not ask for any sympathy from me for that.

      Secondly, Bosnia and Herzegovina needs to prove that it is governed by the rule of law and that it respects its international obligations. This is why full cooperation with the ICTY is a condition to sign and conclude the Stabilisation and Association Agreement.

      In particular, I urge Republika Srpska to further improve its cooperation with the Tribunal. Efforts in tracking the fugitives and dismantling war criminals' support networks should continue with enhanced determination.

      The recent judgment of the International Court of Justice has to be accepted and respected. This too is a matter of the rule of law. The Judgment recognises that genocide was committed in Srebrenica and underlines full cooperation with the ICTY.

      Thirdly, we also need to see progress on the public broadcasting and public administration reforms. The Federation has still to adopt the outstanding Public Broadcasting law.

      Constitutional reform is essential for the future of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is necessary to make the country more functional, efficient and affordable. This process should be led by Bosnia and Herzegovina, based on consensus, and supported by the entities and peoples.

      Constitutional changes, including both the process and the content, have to be decided by the political leaders. The Commission is ready to support this work with funding and experts. I encourage you to adopt the April package from last year as an important first step towards more ambitious objectives.

      Ladies and Gentlemen,

      Firm efforts will be required from Bosnia and Herzegovina in these challenging times. But it is in the times like this that the political leaders need to rise above narrow party interests and show real statesmanship.

      The history of European integration has shown that it is possible to achieve unity in diversity. The EU is first and foremost a community of values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law - but it is not about one religion or ethnicity.

      In a similar vein, diversity is at the heart of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

      What can be a source of major problems, can also be turned into a strength. In many crucial questions, your entities are competing against the state and/or against each other, instead of cooperating for the common good. This is short-sighted.

      Progress towards European integration should not be seen as a zero-sum game between the entities and different nationalities. The philosophy and practice of European integration represents the opposite; it is a matter of creating win-win situations and pooling sovereignties for the common good.

      Bosnia and Herzegovina will only be able to move towards the European Union as one country. The leaders and citizens have to work together towards common objectives. This will bring best results.

      Consider the origins of the European Union, which celebrates its 50 th anniversary next week. In 1957, twelve years after the Second World War, six countries decided to work together to consolidate peace, promote reconciliation and achieve a better live for their citizens. The rest is history: results have been remarkable since then.

      Consider Bosnia and Herzegovina, twelve years after the war in your country, it is the moment for all leaders and all people to work together for a brighter European future.

      I look forward to working with you for our common goal.

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