The decision by the European Commission’s Consultative Task Force not to give a green light to the launch of Stabilisation and Association negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina is a disappointing but expected result, given the failure of the multi-party talks of police restructuring early this week.

However BiH’s position is recoverable. The Consultative Task Force made it clear that progress towards the EU will depend upon the reform process. 

Therefore, the message for the EU is clear. The sooner BiH makes progress on adopting the necessary reforms - namely on police restructuring and public sector broadcasting - the sooner the country can move towards EU accession. Police reform, like all the reforms laid out in the Feasibility Study cannot be imposed by the High Representative.

When the RSNA discusses police restructuring in the coming days, delegates will have a unique opportunity to push this progress forward. And by doing so they will open the door to the opportunities and prosperity that EU accession brings. Delegates should heed the two-thirds majority of RS citizens who want to join the EU, and follow the example set by all the other states in the region who are pushing through the difficult reforms required to proceed on the road towards Europe .

All states wishing to joint he EU have had to undertake difficult, an on occasion politically sensitive reforms. But the price of failure is too great a price to pay.