ESI President speaks at Bosnia workshop in Cadenabbia

ESI President Gerald Knaus was invited to a workshop in Cadenabbia (Italy) on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Dayton Agreement later this year. Under the title "Bosnien und Herzegowina im zehnten Jahr nach Dayton – der Weg in eine europäische Zukunft" (Bosnia and Herzegovina 10 years after Dayton – Path to a European future) the German Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung had organised a three-day discussion on the future of the Bosnian state.

Leaders of the three Bosnian parties SDA, HDZ BiH and PdP, constitutional experts as well as representatives of OHR, EU and members of the German Parliament came together to take stock of the progress made in Bosnia and to discuss how to further develop and stabilise the country.

In his contribution, Mr Knaus gave an overview of the developments since Dayton and reiterated ESI's recent proposal that the Bosnian government submit an official EU membership application to attain official candidacy status by 2007. He also discussed the possibility that all five components of EU assistance in 2007 - 2013 (including regional development, human resources development and rural development) be made available to both candidate and potential candidate countries.

In essence this would mean that the European Commission would become the lead international actor in Bosnia and other SEE countries. NDPs (National Development Plans) would be required from all countries; and the factual difference between candidates and potential candidates would largely disappear.