Since the signing of the Dayton/Paris peace agreement, the European Union has been in the forefront of helping Bosnia-Herzegovina along the road to peace, democracy and a viable market economy. The European Union's involvement in all aspects of life in this emerging State represents a unique challenge. Europe's commitment covers three main areas:

• the repair of war damage and reconstruction
• the creation of an administration for a new State
• the double transition from a socialist regime with a controlled economy to a free market democracy

Giving peace a chance

The war following the disintegration of the ex-Yugoslav Federation was the first on European soil since the end of WWII. It caused immense suffering to its main victims, the civilian populations. Their plight touched the hearts of the people of the European Union, who suddenly saw the spectre of war re-emerge when they thought it had gone for good. The EU was far from insensitive to the tragedy unfolding on its doorstep, and welcomed 750,000 refugees from the war zones onto its territory. European solidarity in the form of a humanitarian operation on an unprecedented scale never ceased throughout the war.

The war left Bosnia-Herzegovina totally ravaged. More than half its population was displaced and more than 1.2 million citizens had to flee abroad. Once the peace accords had been signed, the complete destruction of infrastructures, high unemployment, huge numbers of displaced people and a worthless economy seriously threatened the region's stability. It became clear that if they were to be worth the paper they were written on, the peace accords had to be accompanied by an ambitious reconstruction programme. The EU immediately committed itself to donating one billion ECU to Bosnia-Herzegovina. Together with its Member States, the EU today is this new country's principal partner.

Paving the way to tomorrow's Europe

In terms of aid to Bosnia-Herzegovina, the EU is not content with simply carrying out emergency repairs - i.e. restoring conditions to what they were before the war. Most of the projects are long term investments with the aim of providing this new country with solid democratic foundations and a viable market economy. In the long term, conditions have to be such that Bosnia-Herzegovina can take its place in the construction of the future Europe. But the country can meet this challenge only if its three communities are reconciled. This is the reason why the EU is supporting projects that lead to dialogue between the two entities ( The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Croat-Bosniak*) and Republika Srpska) which make up the new state. The EU is also looking to mend the broken ties between the different republics of ex-Yugoslavia. The EU has unique experience to share with these new nations. It too was created gradually to guarantee peace and prosperity for its Member States.

By the scale of its interventions and the great diversity of its aid programmes, the European Union and the European Commission (EC) in particular have become indispensable partners with Bosnia-Herzegovina, despite the fact that the Dayton/Paris accords gave them no mandate. Nevertheless, the EU works very closely with the Office of the High Representative (OHR) in charge of supervising the implementation of the civil aspects of the accords, as well as with the other organisations such as the United Nations, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the NATO Stabilisation Force (SFOR) and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

Bosnia-Herzegovina's place in Europe

A first: on 8 June 1998, at the Luxembourg Council, the European Union adopted a declaration on the Special Relations between the EU and Bosnia-Herzegovina. A momentous political gesture which confirms the special nature of the ties between the Member States and this new State.

* In September 1993, the Bosnian Muslim community officially abandoned the name "Muslim" (Musliman) in favour of the term Bosniak. The three communities of Bosnia-Herzegovina are Bosnian Croats, Bosnian Serbs and Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims). The adjective "Bosnian" refers to the population of Bosnia-Herzegovina as a whole.