asked Her Majesty's Government:

What is their assessment of the progress that Bosnia-Herzegovina has made towards signing a stabilisation and association agreement with the European Union.[HL6675]

The negotiations between the EU and Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) on a stabilisation and association agreement (SAA) have been progressing well. There has been positive feedback from Brussels on the high standard of the negotiating team from Bosnia-Herzegovina.

If the political conditions that were agreed by the General Affairs Council in November 2005 are met, negotiations could potentially be concluded by the end of 2006. However, there has been little progress towards the implementation of the agreement of police restructuring, due largely to the obstruction of politicians from the Republika Srpska. Furthermore, there has been little indication of progress towards full co-operation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. These two issues represent the greatest obstacles that BiH must overcome in order to conclude an SAA this year.