The Stabilization-Association Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, on the one hand, and the Republic of Kosovo, on the other (SAA), establishes the first contractual relationship between Kosovo and the EU. As such, it constitutes a new phase of political relations between the contracting parties, aiming at Kosovo’s membership in the EU. As an international agreement, the SAA defines the official deadlines for the implementation of reforms that will bring Kosovo progressively closer to the EU until it meets EU standards in all policy areas, as well as common institutional mechanisms for this purpose. It also constitutes the framework of Kosovo’s relations with member states and EU institutions for the implementation of the Stabilization-Association Process (SAP).
The process towards the SAA negotiations started at the beginning of 2012. On February 28, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the EU member states, in the EU Council for General Affairs and Foreign Affairs (GAERC), took the decision to support the initiative of the European Commission (EC) to carry out Feasibility Study (FS) for this agreement. After conducting the FS, during the period March – July 2012, it was published in October 2012. The Feasibility Study for the SAA concluded that there was no legal obstacles for the EU to initiate the SAA with Kosovo and that Kosovo was ready to start negotiations for this agreement. He also asked Kosovo to fulfill four short-term criteria in order to start negotiations, regarding the rule of law, public administration, protection of minorities and trade.
On December 12, 2012, GAERC had approved the EC’s proposal for the commencement of these negotiations and its intention to propose the relevant directives. Later, in April 2013, the EC had published a monitoring report on the implementation of the four short-term FS criteria, through which it confirmed that Kosovo had fulfilled them. Based on this report, on June 28, 2013, GAERC decided to start negotiations for the SAA between the EU and Kosovo.
The negotiations had begun on October 28, 2013, with the first meeting of the Chief Negotiators. After the opening of negotiations, focusing on chapters IV, V and VI, the second round of these negotiations, held on November 27, 2013 focused on the conclusion of these three chapters, in which case negotiations were also opened for chapters I, III , VII, VIII, IX and X. The third and fourth rounds took place in December 2013 and February 2014 respectively, while the fifth round (on 24th March 2014) focused on the last remaining chapter, chapter II, on political dialogue. After five rounds of negotiations, the SAA was approved by the Chief Negotiators at their final meeting, on May 2, 2014, in Pristina, with the setting of initials. With this, the negotiations were concluded.
Subsequently, the SAA was approved by the European Commission, on April 30, 2015 and was signed by the EU and the Republic of Kosovo on October 27, 2015, in Strasbourg. The SAA was approved by the Government of the Republic of Kosovo on October 30, 2015 and ratified by the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo on November 2, 2015. The approval procedures for the SAA were concluded with its approval by the EU Council, on January 12, 2016, andratification by the European Parliament, on January 21, 2016, and. Finally, in accordance with Article 144, paragraph 2 thereof, the SAA entered into force on April 1, 2016.
Article 9, paragraph 1, of the SAA provides that “this association will be implemented progressively and fully over a period of ten years”. This implies that the integration relationship between the EU and Kosovo, through the association process that this agreement regulates, will be achieved by March 31, 2026, meaning it will be implemented by this date. Article 9 also foresees that the implementation of the SAA will be assessed by the Stabilization and Association Council (SAC), as the highest joint EU-Kosovo body responsible for supervising its implementation. In addition, in accordance with paragraph 5 of this article, the SAC is also obliged to carry out two comprehensive assessments of the implementation of the SAA: the mid-term assessment, at the end of the fifth year of its entry into force, and the assessment at the end of the tenth year. Based on these two assessments, the SAC can make decisions that regulate the further progress of integration, through association, between the EU and Kosovo.
In terms of scope, apart from political issues, SAA covers all spheres of governance. It contains the main part, with 144 articles, divided into ten chapters, as well as seven appendices, five protocols and a joint declaration. More specifically, the provisions of the main part are structured as follows:
The vast majority of the SAA is based on the EU`s Acquis– in the EU, respectively the set of legal norms applicable within its territory and by all member states as legal entities.
If we place it in the context of policy areas according to the structure of the Copenhagen Criteria, SAA is structured according to policy areas and specific issues as follows:
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