Besluit 2016/342 - Sluiting van de stabilisatie- en associatieovereenkomst met Kosovo * - Hoofdinhoud

Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the EU and Kosovo

SUMMARY OF:

Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the EU and Kosovo

Decision (EU) 2016/342 — conclusion, on behalf of the EU, of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the EU and the European Atomic Energy Community, of the one part, and Kosovo

WHAT IS THE AIM OF THIS DECISION AND AGREEMENT?

The decision marks the EU’s conclusion of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement with Kosovo(¹).

The aims of the agreement are to:

• - 

  support Kosovo’s efforts to strengthen democracy and the rule of law;
• - 

  contribute to political, economic and institutional stability in Kosovo, as well as to the stabilisation of the region;
• - 

  support Kosovo’s efforts to develop its economic and international cooperation, including through aligning its laws more closely to those of the EU;
• - 

  support Kosovo’s efforts to complete the transition into a functioning market economy;
• - 

  promote harmonious economic relations and gradually develop a free trade area between the EU and Kosovo.

• (1) 

  This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244 (1999) and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.

KEY POINTS

The Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) comprises 10 headings.

• 1. 

  General Principles

The SAA is based on a number of essential principles. Kosovo agrees to:

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  respect democratic principles and human rights;
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  observe international law and instruments;
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  commit to a visible and sustainable improvement in relations with Serbia and to effective cooperation with the common security and defence policy mission while it remains in place;
• - 

  cooperate with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and its residual mechanism, as well as other international investigations and prosecutions and to comply with the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court;
• - 

  continue to foster cooperation and good neighbourly relations in the region.

• 2. 

  Political dialogue

Political dialogue between the two parties is to be further developed. It will promote in particular:

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  Kosovo’s participation in the international democratic community;
• - 

  advancement of Kosovo’s European perspective and rapprochement with the EU;
• - 

  increasing convergence with the EU’s common foreign and security policy measures;
• - 

  effective, inclusive and representative regional cooperation and the development of good neighbourly relations in the western Balkans.

Such dialogue should also contribute to the normalisation of relations between Kosovo and Serbia.

• 3. 

  Regional cooperation

Kosovo is required to take a number of steps to foster regional cooperation, including:

• - 

  starting negotiations with the countries which have already signed a Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the EU - with a view to concluding bilateral agreements on regional cooperation.
• - 

  pursuing regional cooperation with countries concerned by the Stabilisation and Association Process (SAP) in some or all the fields of cooperation covered by this agreement.
• - 

  concluding, if possible, cooperation agreements with any EU candidate country not concerned by the SAP.

• 4. 

  Free movement of goods
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  The 2 parties are committed to gradually establishing a bilateral free trade area over a period lasting a maximum of 10 years.
• - 

  The SAA sets out a process for reducing and removing customs tariffs and quotas on goods from both the EU and Kosovo.

• 5. 

  Establishment, supply of services and capital
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  Companies (as well as subsidiaries and branches) based in one party will be allowed to set up operations on the territory of the other party under the same conditions as companies based on that territory.
• - 

  An EU company established in the territory of Kosovo or a Kosovo company established in the EU can, under certain conditions, employ, or have employed by one of its subsidiaries or branches, employees who are nationals of the EU or citizens of Kosovo respectively.
• - 

  Payments and transfers on the current account of balance of payments between the EU and Kosovo must be permitted in a freely convertible currency.

• 6. 

  Approximation of Kosovo’s laws to EU law
• - 

  Kosovo agrees to ensure that its existing law and future legislation will gradually be made compatible with the EU acquis and that such laws will be properly implemented and enforced.
• - 

  Initially, this will focus on fundamental elements of EU law in the fields of the internal market and of freedom, security and justice, as well as on trade-related areas.
• - 

  Both sides are bound by competition rules, based on EU law, relating to actions that may affect trade between the 2 parties.

• 7. 

  Freedom, Security and Justice

The SAA emphasises the importance of the rule of law and reinforcing institutions at all levels in the areas of general administration but law enforcement and the administration of justice in particular

Cooperation notably aims at:

• - 

  strengthening the independence, impartiality and accountability of the judiciary in Kosovo and improving its efficiency;
• - 

  developing adequate structures for the police, prosecutors and judges and other judicial and law enforcement bodies to:

  • - 

    adequately prepare them for cooperation in civil, commercial and criminal matters, and
  • - 

    enable them to effectively prevent, investigate, prosecute and adjudicate organised crime, corruption and terrorism.

• 8. 

  Cooperation

The EU and Kosovo are to establish close cooperation on a wide range of policy areas to help the development and growth potential of Kosovo.

• 9. 

  Financial cooperation

To help achieve the objectives of this Agreement Kosovo may receive financial assistance from the EU in the form of grants and loans, including loans from the European Investment Bank. EU financial assistance is conditional on further progress in satisfying the Copenhagen political criteria.

• 10. 

  Supervision

The SAA establishes a Stabilisation and Association Council to supervise the application and implementation of the SAA.

FROM WHEN DO THE DECISION AND THE AGREEMENT APPLY?

The decision applies from 12 February 2016 and the agreement from 1 April 2016.

BACKGROUND

For more information see:

• - 

  Kosovo (European Commission)
• - 

  Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) between the European Union and Kosovo signed — press release (Council).

Council Decision (EU) 2016/342 of 12 February 2016 on the conclusion, on behalf of the Union, of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, of the one part, and Kosovo(1), of the other part (OJ L 71, 16.3.2016, pp. 1-2)

Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, of the one part, and Kosovo(1), of the other part (OJ L 71, 16.3.2016, pp. 3-321)

RELATED DOCUMENTS

Framework Agreement between the European Union and Kosovo(1) on the general principles for the participation of Kosovo in Union programmes (OJ L 195, 27.7.2017, pp. 3-8)

Commission staff working document: Kosovo(1) 2016 Report Accompanying the document Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions 2016 Communication on EU Enlargement Policy (SWD(2016) 363 final, 9.11.2016)

Information relating to the entry into force of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, of the one part, and Kosovo (This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.), of the other part (OJ L 78, 24.3.2016, p. 1)

Council Decision (EU) 2015/1988 of 22 October 2015 on the signing, on behalf of the Union, of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, of the one part, and Kosovo, of the other part (OJ L 290, 6.11.2015, pp. 4-6)

Regulation (EU) No 231/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2014 establishing an Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA II) (OJ L 77, 15.3.2014, pp. 11-26)

last update 22.03.2018

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