Representatives of the European Commission and Bosnia and Herzegovina institutions will meet in Mostar on 16 and 17 March 2011 for the third sub-committee meeting to discuss the level of approximation of the country with EU rules in the fields of internal market and competition.

Progress of Bosnia and Herzegovina in its European integration process depends on the country’s fulfilment of the obligations of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU, amongst others in those areas. Since the signing of the SAA and coming into effect of the Interim Agreement in 2008 sub-committee meetings are held annually, under the umbrella of the Interim Committee, in order to assess the degree of BiH preparedness in a given area.

Prior to the meeting, the participants will pay a visit to the BiH Intellectual Property Institute, one of the beneficiaries of EU Technical Assistance provided under the assistance programme CARDS 2006, to discuss recent developments in the area of intellectual property and the degree of fulfilment of SAA obligations.