The Integration of Bosnia and Herzegovina Into the European Union: Internal Controversies and External Political Challenges

The Achievements Of Post-Dayton Integration

In its centuries of existence, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) has faced numerous challenges related to its multi-ethnic status and highly-differentiated social structure, and has been shaped by various historical processes and geopolitical movements; yet it belongs to Europe – not only geographically, but culturally – and its integration into the European Union (EU) is a necessity. The process of integration, and full EU membership, will not solve all the internal problems facing BiH, but the country’s absence from this values framework will have considerable economic and political consequences for the state and for Bosnian society as a whole. After all, the EU represents not only economic integration, but a broader integrative framework meant to support peace and freedom by enhancing the protection of human rights and human dignity. In its present circumstances, BiH needs such a framework in order to fully realize its potential as a stable, multi-ethnic, and democratic state.

Unlike other countries in Eastern and South-eastern Europe, the seven now-independent states that make up the Western Balkans region, including BiH, did not enter their respective post-socialist transitions and EU integrations peacefully. Indeed, the devastating conflicts that erupted in the process of Yugoslavia's dissolution mean that, in addition to the trials of economic and political transition, Western Balkans countries face the challenge of reconciling numerous unresolved issues from the past that remain sources of tension and instability. The region has represented something of a test for the EU as well, as it has demanded democratic consolidation from multi-ethnic states that lack democratic traditions and are marked by highly complex geopolitics.

Given the historical circumstances in the region, accelerating the accession of Western Balkan countries to the EU in the 1990s was unrealistic, so in 1999, the EU initiated a special strategy for the integration of these countries, known as the Stabilisation and Association Process (SAP). The SAP served as a new strategic, political, and functional framework and provided a pathway for Western Balkan states to full EU membership. This includes a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA), which stipulates three levels of conditions that must be met by a candidate country. The first level comprises the general democratic, legal, economic, and administrative criteria for EU membership agreed at the summits of the European Council in Copenhagen in 1993 and Madrid in 1995. The second level consists of criteria specific to the countries of the region, including compliance with peace agreements and with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and regional cooperation. The third level constitutes unique requirements for each country.

At the Zagreb Summit in 2000, the EU declared all Western Balkan countries potential candidates for membership (a position confirmed at the Thessaloniki Summit in 2003). The integrated political framework for EU accession has given these countries a clear European perspective, and this has been accompanied by strong economic support from the EU through asymmetric trade relations (80% of exports from the Western Balkan flow to the EU without customs restrictions), as well as direct economic and financial assistance through the CARDS program (Community Assistance for Reconstruction, Development and Stabilisation). Since 2007, CARDS and other EU financial assistance programs have been consolidated into a specialized EU Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA). The main objectives of the IPA are to prepare beneficiary countries to: gradually integrate EU standards and policies, support the transposition of the acquis, and efficiently use structural and cohesion funds once they become full members of the EU. The SAP also involves direct assistance from the EU to candidate countries for economic, political, judicial, and administrative reform.

Western Balkan states are at different stages of integration into the EU because the accession progress of each country has depended on its ability to implement the general and specific requirements set out in their SAA (see Table 1). To date, Croatia is the only country in the region that has completed negotiations and become a full member of the EU. Still, apart from Kosovo and BiH, the remaining states have all received candidate status.