Members of the EU integration committees of the state level, FBiH and RS parliaments and members of the newly established EU Integration Committee of the Brcko District Assembly visited Brussels from 28 until 29 May 2013. The visit was organised within the “Parliament for Europe” initiative of the European Union Special Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It enabled MPs to discuss issues related to European integration of BiH with senior EU officials from the European Commission, the European External Action Service and members of the European Parliament.

Although latest opinion polls show that over 75% of BiH citizens support EU integration of their country, there has been to date  no significant progress on relevant actions; implementation of the ‘Sejdic-Finci’ judgement  of the European Court of Human Rights  or the establishing of an EU Coordination Mechanism. As a result, Bosnia and Herzegovina is seriously lagging behind others in the region. These were the messages conveyed to BiH MPs in the meetings held in Brussels, where EU officials urged members of four parliamentary committees to make swift progress.

The EU believes that, once BiH enters the EU accession process proper, many other issues in the country can be better addressed. EU officials stressed that there is no country in the Western Balkans region in which the EU has invested more than in BiH. This includes one of the largest EU Delegations in the world, numerous visits paid by Commissioner Füle and High Representative Ashton to BiH, and the 660 million Euro of financial assistance that the EU has given to BiH over the past seven years. The EU is always ready to engage with the MPs in order to better shape the EU’s policy and assist BiH on its EU path. However, the MPs are elected leaders of the BiH citizens and as such they are responsible for finding a solution.
 
Members of the EU integration committees of the BiH Parliament, the FBiH Parliament, the RS National Assembly and Brcko District Assembly also visited BiH Mission to the EU, where they met with the BiH Ambassador to the EU, Igor Davidovic.
 
The EUSR developed the “Parliament for Europe” initiative with the aim of assisting parliamentarians in meeting the demanding legislative agenda that lies ahead of the country seeking to fulfil the obligations arising from the Stabilisation and Association Agreement. The Project aims to encourage an active, informed and constructive engagement on the EU integration process