During the 90s , the development EU 's Common Foreign and Security Policy ( CFSP ) was given a strong impetus by the conflicts in the Balkans . The EU failed to react during the beginning of the conflict , and UN peacekeepers from the Netherlands failed to prevent the Srebrenica massacre ( July 1995 ) in Bosnia and Herzegovina , the largest mass murder in Europe since the second world war . The North Atlantic Treaty Organization ( NATO ) finally had to intervene in the war , forcing the combatants to the negotiation table . On 14 December 1995 , the Dayton Agreement was signed in Paris , ending the conflict in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina
Srebrenica massacre
Srebrenica massacre
History of the European Union (1993–2004)