Off the wire
• Feature: Britain's driving test passes milestone, its 80th birthday  • China ready to back Egypt's efforts to maintain stability, development: senior official  • U.S. announces schedule of trial for linking targeted cancer drugs to gene mutations  • Ship carrying more than 400 people capsizes in Yangtze River  • Germany's benchmark DAX index closes up  • Foreign exchange rate of Euro to other currencies  • Finnish package manufacturer denies accusation of violating labor interests in India, Mexico, U.S.  • 1st LD Writethru: U.S. dollar rises after economic data  • Urgent: U.S. stocks end mildly higher amid mixed data  • UN climate talks resume in Bonn  
You are here: 　 Home

EU, BiH association deal enters into force

Xinhua, June 2, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) between the European Union (EU) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) entered into force on Monday, said a press release issued by the European Commission.

According to the Commission, the SAA establishes a close partnership between the EU and BiH and deepens the political, economic and trade ties between the two parties. It is the main framework for the relations between the EU and BiH, further preparing the country for future EU membership.

The entry into force of the SAA will more specifically upgrade the EU-BiH relations through the establishment of a dedicated institutional framework, which includes the SAA Council, SAA Committee as well as sectoral Sub-Committees. And a SAA Parliamentary Committee will also be established between the European Parliament and BiH Parliamentary Assembly.

The press release said that the entry into force of the SAA will also increase the confidence of investors, domestic and international in the country. And the SAA will also contribute to the progressive alignment of BiH norms and legislation with the EU legislation.

"I welcome the entry into force of the SAA as a defining moment in the relations between the EU and Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as an agreement which firmly sets BiH on an EU-accession path," said Johannes Hahn, Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations.

The first meeting of the Stabilization and Association Council was expected to take place in the second half of 2015.

The SAA between the two sides was signed in Luxembourg in 2008. Endit