PURPOSE: to conclude a Protocol to the Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, of the other part, to take account of the accession of Croatia to the European Union.

PROPOSED ACT: Council Decision.

ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the Council adopts the act after consulting the European Parliament but without being obliged to follow its opinion.

BACKGROUND: on 24 September 2012, the Council authorised the Commission to open negotiations, on behalf of the European Union and its Member States and Croatia, with Bosnia and Herzegovina in order to conclude a Protocol to the Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, of the other part, to take account of the accession of Croatia to the European Union.

Several rounds of negotiations took place between 13 December 2012 and 28 April 2016. Following further technical consultations and correspondence, the Protocol was initialled by the Commission and Bosnia and Herzegovina on 18 July 2016.

It is now necessary to conclude the Protocol on behalf of the European Union.

CONTENT: with this proposal, the Council is invited to adopt a decision aiming to approve, on behalf of the Union and its Member States, the Protocol to the Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, of the other part, to take account of the accession of Croatia to the European Union.

It should be noted that the signature and provisional application of the Protocol are subject to a proposal for a separate Council decision. The conclusion of the Protocol on behalf of the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC) follows a separate procedure, by which the Commission recommends that the Council gives its approval, pursuant to the second paragraph of Article 101 of the Treaty establishing the EAEC.