Istoric

In 1981, two years after the first direct elections to the European Parliament were held, the legislature inaugurated a "Delegation for relations with the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia".

This delegation had a series of successors, each refocused and renamed in response to political changes in the region: the original delegation became the "Delegation for relations with the republics of former Yugoslavia", before being re-baptised the "Delegation for South-East Europe" (DSEE) in 1994.

The delegation was responsible for inter-parliamentary relations with five countries in South-East Europe: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (which then became the State Union of Serbia-Montenegro, and which is today Montenegro, the Republic of Kosovo and the Republic of Serbia) and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

Albania also became part of the Delegation for South-East Europe's remit in 1994. Previously, between 1991 and 1994, it had been part of a three-country delegation, alongside Romania and Bulgaria.

The acronym used by the "Delegation for South-East Europe" - DSEE - remains in use today.

Separate relations, new structures

In 2001, the Parliament began to meet informally with parliamentarians from Kosovo. Official relations with Kosovo's parliament were started in May 2008, after the country declared independence.

For Bosnia and Herzegovina, inter-parliamentary meetings with the European Parliament delegation were launched in March 1999.

For many years, the relations with both countries were "informal", with Inter-Parliamentary Meetings (IPMs) taking place annually.

Nonetheless, MEPs and members of the parliaments convened regularly: 7 inter-parliamentary meetings were held with Kosovo between 2001 and April 2015, while 17 took place with Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1999 and May 2015.

Once the "Stabilisation and Association Agreements" (SAAs) signed by the EU and each of the two countries came into effect, this would change. The Agreement with Bosnia and Herzegovina, which became effective in June 2015, and with Kosovo, effective since April 2016, both contained the following provision:

"A Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee [...] is hereby established. It shall be a forum for [...] to meet and exchange views. It shall meet at intervals that it shall itself determine, but at least once a year."

As the countries covered by the Delegation for South-East Europe progressed in their process of joining the EU, they became, one by one, the object of separate delegations. Today there are independent delegations for Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia.

Since the 2014 elections to the European Parliament, the DSEE delegation is responsible for relations with Bosnia and Herzegovina and with Kosovo. This means the DSEE delegation oversees two separate Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committees.

Chairs overseeing relations with Bosnia and Herzegovina and with Kosovo

• 2019-present: Mr Romeo FRANZ (Greens/EFA, DE) was elected Chair of the Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina delegation on 26 September 2019.
• 2014-2019: Mr Tonino Picula (Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats), Chair of the Delegation for relations with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo (DSEE)
• 2009-2014: Mr Eduard KUKAN (European People's Party), inter-parliamentary relations with Kosovo and with Bosnia and Herzegovina (as well as with Albania, Montenegro and Serbia in his capacity as Chair of the Delegation for South-East Europe)
• 1994-2009: Ms Doris PACK (European People's Party), Chair of the Delegation for South-East Europe
• 1989-1994: Mr Paraskevas AVGERINOS
• 1987-1989: Mr Julian GRIMALDOS GRlMALDOS
• 1985-1986: Ms Lieselotte SEIBEL-EMMERLING
• 1981-1984: Mr Vincenzo BEITlZA.