The Serbia-Kosovo Agreement on Kosovo’s Regional Representation and the ‘Feasibility Study’: A Breakthrough in EU – Kosovo Relations?

2012 was a year of significant developments for Kosovo: on 24 February, Serbian and Kosovo-Albanian negotiators reached an EU-mediated agreement on the representation of Kosovo in regional fora. Whereas this agreement enabled Serbia to gain the coveted status as EU candidate in March, it opened the way for Kosovo to participate in international meetings at regional level as an entity in its own rights. As stipulated in this agreement, the European Commission on 10 October also delivered a Feasibility Study on the conclusion of a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) between Kosovo and the EU, which concluded that there would be no legal obstacles for the EU to sign an SAA (a mandatory pre-requisite for EU accession) with Pristina, in spite of the non-recognition by five EU Member States. However, it can be asked whether these measures were genuine diplomatic victories for Pristina or just rather symbolic measures without a real potential of opening a realistic accession perspective for both Kosovo and Serbia.