The purpose of conference “European Defence Union – between necessity and possibility", which took place in Dubrovnik, Croatia, on June 22-23 2017, initiated by the Chair of the European Parliament Delegation for B&H and Kosovo Tonino Picula, was to address the main security challenges Europe faces today and actions necessary capabilities for efficiently shifting the European Security and Defence Union from just a possibility to a reality that the EU citizens need and are entitled to.

Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament voted today in Brussels on the proposal of the draft Council decision on the conclusion of the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) between the EU and its Member States on one hand, and Bosnia and Herzegovina on the other hand, took into consideration Croatia's accession to the European Union with 57 in favour, 1 against and 1 abstention.

President of the EP Delegation for Relations with BiH and Kosovo, MEP Tonino Picula co-chaired the 1. Joint Parliamentary Committee meeting for Stabilisation and Association EU-Kosovo (SAPC), held 16. and 17. May in Pristina, Kosovo.

“I warmly welcome today’s announcement from the European commission recommending visa liberalisation for the citizens of The Republic of Kosovo. This is good news that Kosovo citizens were waiting for a long time. We in the European Parliament were fighting for it regularly”, said MEP Tonino Picula, Head of Delegation for Relations with BiH and Kosovo.

MEP Picula participated on the Committee on Foreign Affairs meeting in Brussels. He is shadow rapporteur on the AFET opinion on changes of Directive of the reinforcement of checks against relevant databases at external borders.

MEP Picula participated at the meeting of the Committee on Regional Development (REGI) in Brussels, as shadow rapporteur in the exchange of views on access to Finance for SMEs and increasing the diversity of SME funding in a Capital Markets Union.

As a member of the Delegation of the Committee on Regional Development of the European Parliament, MEP Picula was in the four-day working visit to the French island of Martinique in the Caribbean archipelago. It is a regular visit to the political, administrative and entrepreneurial institutions in order to establish the justification and effectiveness of investment resources from the European funds.

MEP Tonino Picula organized a conference about islands in the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Guests were young islanders, representatives of our coastal region that Picula hosted as a Vice President of the Intergroup for seas, rivers, islands and coastal areas.

In the European Parliament the ceremony was marked by submitting the request of Bosnia and Herzegovina for membership of the European Union.