EPP President Wilfried Martens invited Covic to attend an EPP congress, set for late April in Warsaw, the HDZ BiH said in a statement on Wednesday.
The status of the Bosnian Croat party as an EPP observer was frozen from January 2006 to June 2008 while Covic was on trial before the State Court of Bosnia-Herzegovina.
On 2 June 2008, the State Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina disclaimed jurisdiction over an indictment charging Dragan Covic with abuse of office, and dismissed the indictment issued in 2006.
The defence counsel and the prosecution were to have state their closing arguments at the end of the presentation of evidence in Covic's retrial at the State Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but the Court decided that it had no jurisdiction in the case instead.
Covic was indicted under the Penal Code of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Explaining its decision, the court said it meant that the case could be taken on by a lower court.
Covic was charged with having made it possible for the Lijanovici company of Siroki Brijeg, at the time when he was Finance Minister of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, to unlawfully gain profit by avoiding the payment of special customs duties on meat imports.
The indictment also covered the five Lijanovic brothers. In the original trial in 2006, Covic was sentenced to five years in prison, while the Lijanovic brothers were acquitted. The Appeals Chamber of the State Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina quashed the verdict, ordering a retrial.
The proceedings were discontinued on 2 June with the court's decision to disclaim jurisdiction in the case.