Joint Report on Kosovo’s progress in addressing issues set out in the Council Conclusions of December 2012 in view of a possible decision on the opening of negotiations on the Stabilisation and Association Agreement

In October 2012, the Commission issued a Feasibility Study for a Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the European Union and Kosovo. The study concluded that Kosovo is largely ready to open negotiations for a Stabilisation and Association Agreement. It also suggested that the Commission would propose negotiating directives for such an agreement, once Kosovo takes a number of specific steps on the rule of law, public administration, protection of minorities and trade.

The Council Conclusions of December 2012 took note of the feasibility study and of the Commission's intention to propose negotiating directives for a Stabilisation and Association Agreement once Kosovo meets these short-term priorities. The Council also called on Kosovo to continue implementing in good faith all agreements reached in the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina to date and to engage constructively on the full range of issues. With a view to a possible decision to open negotiations for a Stabilisation and Association Agreement with Kosovo, the Council made a commitment to examine progress on all the issues. The Council also committed itself to examine the report during this Presidency and – provided the assessment is positive – to adopt the negotiating directives.

Taking these elements into consideration, this report is divided into three parts. The first part analyses Kosovo's progress in addressing the short-term priorities identified in the feasibility study. The second part looks at all the other issues identified in the December 2012 Council Conclusions, including the political dialogue between the Prime Ministers of Kosovo and Serbia facilitated by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and implementation of the agreements reached to date. The final part of the report draws conclusions.