Bosnia and Herzegovina’s strategic priority is the EU membership. The main directions and activities of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s foreign policy include further approaching and institutionalization of relations with the European Union according to the Stabilisation and Accession Process.

Bosnia and Herzegovina’s aspiration towards obtaining a rightful EU membership is based on a broad political consensus. In line with that, series of decisions were passed on the highest level, including the “Joint statement of the BiH political leaders’ commitment to carry out the necessary reforms within the BiH’s accession process into EU which was passed by the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina in January and February 2015.

The institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina showed their commitment to the European future of our country through the documents adopted earlier : Declaration on Special Relations with EU from 1998, Council of Ministers Decision, and the Parliamentary Assembly Resolution from 1999, as well as the Statement made by the presidents of political parties. Additionally, in 2003 the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH adopted the conclusions according to which, amongst other things, there is a complete political agreement that joining the EU is the biggest possible priority for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The perspective of the EU membership is a significant motivation for the continuation of the reforms started in Bosnia and Herzegovina and an initiator of the process allowing the forming of economic, legal, organizational, and social structure capable of operating according to the EU policies.  An active role of all the segments of society is necessary for accelerating the process of including Bosnia and Herzegovina in the European integrations.
The process of the EU integrations requests a comprehensive adaptation of policies, institutional framework, and legal system for the purpose of reaching EU standards in all areas. Furthermore, the process of legal harmonization and accepting the EU standards implies extensive internal reforms, a general system consolidation, a firmer economic development and more active foreign policies in the areas that influence the dynamic of EU – BiH relations.

Along with the efforts on strengthening the economic development, for the purpose of fulfilling the Copenhagen economic criteria, the Forum for Prosperity and Jobs was held in May 2014 where the economic reforms package included in the Growth and Employment Agreement was determined.

The EU Institutions, as well as its Member States, had been confirming the undisputable European outlook for Bosnia and Herzegovina. That is why the EU officially adopted the New EU Approach for BiH in December 2014, which once again emphasizes the European outlook for our country as well as the obligation of fulfilling the membership criteria during the pre-accession process, based on the British-German Initiative for Initiating and Accelerating EU Integrations process in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The European Union recognized the efforts and progress that Bosnia and Herzegovina had made, and in April 2015 the Council of the EU proposed the entry into force of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement from 1 June 2015.
The Stabilisation and Association Process proved to be an effective policy framework for the EU activities in the Western Balkans. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, this process, strengthened by the New EU Approach, remains to be the framework for the implementation of the reform program on the path to the future EU accession.

Pursuant to the intensified European integration process, the BiH Presidency adopted the Master Plan of the integration of Bosnia and Herzegovina into the European Union at its session on 23 July 2015. The BiH Presidency stated that the adopted Master Plan represented a structural and time framework for further activities regarding the process of integration of Bosnia and Herzegovina into the European Union.

The BiH Council of Ministers adopted the agreed text of the Reform Agenda for Bosnia and Herzegovina for the period 2015-2018 on 23 July 2015. The FBiH Government approved the Reform Agenda for Bosnia and Herzegovina on 27 July 2015. (The FBiH House of Peoples adopted the Reform Agenda for Bosnia and Herzegovina for the period 2015-2018. The FBiH House of Representatives adopted the Information on the Reform Agenda for Bosnia and Herzegovina for the period 2015-2018 on 1 August 2015). The RS Government adopted the Reform Agenda for Bosnia and Herzegovina for the period 2015-2018.

At the session held on 6 October 2015 the BiH Council of Ministers adopted the Action Plan for the implementation of the Reform Agenda at the level of the BiH Council of Ministers.

Pursuant to the BiH Presidency’s Decision (from the 19th session held on 28 January 2016) on the Bosnia and Herzegovina’s application for the EU membership, the Chairman of the BiH Presidency, as the representative of the country holding the presidency of the Council of the EU, submitted the Bosnia and Herzegovina’s application for the EU membership to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, on 15 February 2016, in Brussels. On 18 July 2016, the Representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the European Union initialed the Protocol to the Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the European Communities and their Member States, on one side, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, on the other side, in order to take into consideration Croatia’s accession to the European Union.

At the 69th session held on 23 August 2016 the BiH Council of Ministers adopted the Decision on the coordination system of the European integration process in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

At the meeting held on 20 September 2016 in Brussels, the EU General Affairs Council (GAC) adopted the conclusions on the Bosnia and Herzegovina’s application for the EU membership and decided to implement the procedure laid down in Article 49 of the Treaty on European Union, and, accordingly, the European Commission was invited to submit its opinion on the application of Bosnia and Herzegovina for the EU membership.