The European Union's 28 member states on Tuesday accepted Bosnia and Herzegovina's membership application and ordered the bloc's executive to prepare an assessment of the Balkan country's readiness to join the bloc.

The European Commission will now determine whether Bosnia meets criteria to become a candidate country, a process that could take a year. The Commission will outline what conditions Bosnia would need to meet before reaching full membership, which is likely to be a drawn-out and complicated process for Sarajevo.

Bosnia submitted the application in February.

A senior Slovak foreign ministry official, Ivan Korcok, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, said "this is a good day for Bosnia, but for us as well. We are showing that the enlargement strategy and approach to the aspiring countries works."

The Commission will send a questionnaire asking for answers to thousands of queries on the country's suitability to join the EU. It will assess Bosnia's economy, compliance with human rights and the rule of law and other obligations of a member state.

Bosnia's membership process is particularly complicated given the legacy of the 1990s war during the breakup of the former Yugoslavia.

The Dayton accords that ended the war divided the country into two autonomous zones, one controlled by Bosniaks and Croats and another by Serbs. Each ethnic group is also granted a seat on the country's tripartite presidency.

The governance structure makes passing reforms and getting anything done complicated and slow, which in turn has hampered economic growth.

Over the last 14 months, Bosnia has been working to pass reforms to improve the country's economic prospects. The EU member states said Bosnia should maintain its reform agenda, including "socio-economic reforms, reforms in the area of rule of law and public administration."

Prime Minister Denis Zvizdic said the acceptance of the country's application constituted a "historic moment for the European path and European future of Bosnia-Herzegovina."

"This is really some of the most positive news for Bosnia-Herzegovina ... especially for young people," he said.

cw/jil (AP, Reuters)</s>BRUSSELS, Sept 20 (Reuters) - The European Union's 28 member states on Tuesday accepted Bosnia's membership application, taking a step forward in what is certain to be a long process that Sarajevo hopes will eventually give it a place in the bloc.

The EU said Bosnia, which applied to join in February, had made progress on necessary reforms, so it had accepted the application. It asked the European Commission, the EU's executive, for an assessment of Sarajevo's readiness.

In doing so, Brussels will lay out for Sarajevo what conditions remain to be met before it is granted membership. There is no time limit for the process.

While it accepted the application, the EU states called on Bosnia to continue "socio-economic reforms (and) reforms in the area of rule of law and public administration." They asked the Commission to monitor the implementation of a 2009 European Court of Human Rights ruling that ordered Bosnia to allow ethnic minorities, such as Jews and Roma, to run for high office.

Bosnia has yet to implement that ruling. Only Serbs, Bosniaks and Croats can run for high office, and the issue continues to be an obstacle to Bosnia's EU plans.

But the issue is complicated. A country of 3.5 million people, Bosnia is still split along ethnic lines, after a war in the 1990s that killed some 100,000 people during the breakup of Yugoslavia. The Dayton peace accords that ended the war in 1995 gave Bosnia three governments.

Two are autonomous entities, one representing Bosniaks and Croats, the second representing Bosnian Serbs. The third is a central government with a three-member presidency consisting of one Serb, one Bosniak and one Croat; hence the limit on who can run for office.

Bosnia has, however, made progress on two other key conditions: setting up a body to deal with the EU and adjusting a 2008 agreement with Croatia after the neighbouring ex-Yugoslav republic became an EU member in 2013, the EU said.

"Today is really a historic moment for the European path and European future of Bosnia-Herzegovina," said Prime Minister Denis Zvizdic. "This is really some of the most positive news for Bosnia-Herzegovina ... especially for young people." (Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska, additional reporting by Daria Sito-Sucic in Sarajevo, editing by Larry King)</s>BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union will examine whether Bosnia has what it takes to become a member, continuing with enlargement just months after Britain decided to leave.

EU nations on Tuesday ordered the European Commission to establish whether Bosnia has earned candidate status, a process that could take a year.

A senior Slovak foreign ministry official, Ivan Korcok, says "this is a good day for Bosnia, but for us as well. We are showing that the enlargement strategy and approach to the aspiring countries works."

The Commission will now send a questionnaire to Bosnia seeking thousands of answers about its suitability to join.

It will assess Bosnia's economy, the state of democracy, the rule of law and human rights, and it ability to respect the obligations of membership.</s>The European Union said Tuesday it will examine whether Bosnia has what it takes to become a member as the bloc continues with plans to expand just months after Britain decided to leave.

EU nations ordered the European Commission to establish whether Bosnia has earned candidate status, a process that could take a year.

A senior Slovak foreign ministry official, Ivan Korcok, said "this is a good day for Bosnia, but for us as well. We are showing that the enlargement strategy and approach to the aspiring countries works."

The Commission will now send a questionnaire to Bosnia seeking thousands of answers about its suitability to join.

It will assess Bosnia's economy, the state of democracy in the country, its adherence to the rule of law and human rights, and its ability to respect the obligations of membership.

"It is truly a historic moment" for Bosnia, Prime Minister Denis Zvizdic said, adding it was "particularly good news for the youth."

Bosnia has a brain drain problem as more than half of its young people dream of a better life in EU countries. To stop them from leaving, Bosnia's leaders have been working hard in the past 14 months on reforms that would create jobs and improve the standard of living.

"It is clear that these reforms are starting to show results," the EU envoy to Bosnia, Lars-Gunnar Wigemark, said Monday. "We have seen the reduction of the level of unemployment and an increased growth," he said.

Bosnia's complex political system and the on-going quarrels between its Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats have prevented the country from moving faster and catching up with neighbouring countries on the EU path.

The country's economy was completely devastated by the 1992-95 war that took over 100,000 lives and turned nearly half of the population into refugees.</s>The European Court has turned down a civil action filed by private bank depositors and businesses against the Eurogroup which met on 25 March 2013, saying the lawsuit was targeting the wrong body.

The court held a hearing on Tuesday to examine a civil action brought against the European Commission, whose decisions in 2013 were followed by a banking haircut in Cyprus where individuals and businesses lost a portion of their savings.

The legal recourse was based on the argument that the decision violated a charter that enshrines certain political, social, and economic rights for EU citizens and residents into EU law.

But the court did not accept the basis of the argument.

“The European Commission did not contribute to violating property rights, as provided for in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union,” the decision read.

The ruling essentially backs the logic of the European Commission that decision in the Eurogroup did not constitute executive action on behalf of the Commission or the European Central Bank.

In 2013, the then newly elected President Nicos Anastasiades accepted a haircut on deposits of over €100,000 in Laiki and Bank of Cyprus, and consequently Laiki Bank was dissolved.

Depositors have been fighting for what they view as a violation of their rights to their own property, basically their money in the bank, after they were affected by the haircut.
The European Union's 28 member states formally accept Bosnia and Herzegovina's membership application. The European Commission (EC) will now determine whether Bosnia meets the criteria to join the union, a process that is expected to take a year.