Visa liberalisation

Visa liberalisation is an area of reform where the European Union holds considerable leverage over governments of neighbouring countries. It could steer some of their reform processes towards EU demands before extending the ultimate benefits of visa-free travel. Lessons learnt from the experiences of the countries of the Western Balkans, which completed the process a few years ago, are being put to use in the application of the ENP’s incentive-based approach to the visa liberation processes with Eastern Partnership countries.

Following up on the conclusions of the 2011 EaP summit in Warsaw, the EU institutions adopted three major documents in May 2012. Central to the package, the European Commission and the High Representative issued ‘A Roadmap to the Autumn 2013 Summit’ at Vilnius.210 _{That Roadmap covered both the bilateral}

and multilateral dimensions of the Eastern Partnership and was guided by the EU’s principles of joint ownership, differentiation and conditionality.211 _{The bilateral dimension comprised three}

central aims of the EU: i) forging new and deeper contractual relations between the EU and partner countries; ii) sector-specific cooperation that facilitates the participation of partner countries in EU programmes and agencies; and iii) supporting the mobility of citizens and visa liberalisation in a well-managed and secure environment, whereby the mobility of citizens in the partner countries would be promoted through visa facilitation and

certainly when compared to the Stabilisation and Association Agreements concluded with the countries of the Western Balkans.

210 _{JOIN (2012) 13 final, 15 May 2012.}

211 _{See Joint Staff Working Document “The Eastern Partnership Roadmap}

2012-2013: the multilateral dimension”, SWD (2012) 108 final, 15 May 2012. Divided into 6 areas of aims the document points out specific objectives and projects precise EU support for each in order to meet the desired outcome: A. Democracy, good governance and stability, B. Economic integration and convergence with EU policies, C. Energy security, D. Contacts between people, E. Interaction with other stakeholders, F. Horizontal cooperation.

readmission agreements as a first step, with a visa-free regime as a final goal.

Visa liberalisation has become one of the centrepieces of the EU’s foreign policy towards the countries on its outer periphery. Holding out a prospect of visa-free travel proves a powerful incentive to encourage reforms in neighbouring states, whose citizens want to shop, study, visit

and work in the EU. The Visa Liberalisation Action Plan (VLAP) is the central document tracking the benchmarked process and making progress conditional upon far-

reaching reforms in four areas (‘blocks’) of justice and home affairs: i) documents security; 212 _{ii) irregular immigration,}

including readmission;213 _{iii) public security and order;}214 _iv)

external relations and fundamental rights.215 _{Each block is divided}

212 _{The first block of visa liberalisation focuses on personal documents and}

the protection against forging. Issuing biometric passports enables access for the EaP states to the Lost and stolen Passport database and maximises the reach of Interpol. Until the end of 2015, progress of each of the six EaP countries could be tracked here: http://monitoring.visa-free-europe.eu/.

213 _{The second block reflects the progress made on border issues and}

migration and comprises three subgroups: i) border management, specifically focusing on establishing anti-corruption trainings and ethical code for officials, plus proper infrastructure; ii) migration management, which requires monitoring mechanisms which detect illegal migration; and iii) asylum policy, which aims to implement an appropriate legal framework for asylum-seekers.

214 _{Preventing and fighting terrorism or organised crime, and delivering}

proper cooperation between EaP countries and the EU shape the main objectives of Block 3. Specifically, the subgroup on preventing and fighting organised crime, terrorism and corruption requires efforts to implement recommendations made by the UN, Council of Europe and GRECO. A further subgroup regarding judicial and law enforcement outlines the objective of implementing a legal framework and cooperation with Europol and Eurojust.

215 _{Block 4 measures the individual rights of citizens and foreigners in two}

subgroups. The first subgroup aims at an effective in-state freedom of movement enshrined in a legal framework and correctly implemented.

Visa liberalisation has become one of the centrepieces of the EU’s foreign policy towards the countries on its outer periphery.

into a legislative policy framework and effective implementation. Apart from regional or thematic instruments (e.g. ENI), the eastern neighbourhood benefits from additional financial support from, for instance, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The additional support aims to strengthen the common migration, asylum and border policies, as the EaP countries are met with high implementation costs in order to fulfil the necessary benchmarks. Monitoring is based on existing criteria listed in the VLAPs prepared by the European Commission and member states. The assessment of each country is performed by way of a questionnaire, developed and filled out by officials from the EaP state concerned. The Commission and member states perform their own reality check by collecting information from a variety of sources, including official data of relevant public institutions and authorities, reports by international organisations (UN, GRECO, …), NGOs and independent experts.216

Moldova has enjoyed visa-free travel since April 2014.217

Implementing the necessary reforms was relatively painless (at least when compared to Georgia and Ukraine) because approximately 15% of the population holds dual citizenship with Romanian passports.218 _{Ukraine, which made gradual progress in}

all four domains, saw its advance stunted in autumn 2013, due to the political and security turmoil. The post-Maidan government

The second subgroup focuses on citizens’ rights and defines clear benchmarks in adopting and implementing an anti-discrimination law and National Human Rights Action Plan and furthermore requires the ratification of relevant international documents.

216 _{See http://eastbook.eu/en/2012/11/country-en/poland-en/launch-}

of-the-eastern-partnership-visa-liberalisation-index/

217 _{See Council, “Visa liberalisation for Moldova”, Press release 7645/14,}

14 March 2014; and Regulation (EU) No 259/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 3 April 2014 amending Council Regulation (EC) No 539/2001 listing the third countries whose nationals must be in possession of visas when crossing the external borders and those whose nationals are exempt from that requirement, OJ 2014 L 105/9.

218 _{The author would like to thank Nicu Popescu for highlighting this}

made big strides in meeting the VLAP criteria since it came to power, helped by the flexible interpretation given by the European Commission to some of them (in particular to take account of the fact that Kyiv is not in control of the management of parts of its

internationally recognised borders). The Commission

recommended in April 2016 that Ukraine be offered visa-free travel, but the Council took almost an entire year to follow through. In its negotiating position agreed in November 2016, COREPER took the view that the instrument for visa liberalisation should not enter into force before the entry into force of a revised suspension mechanism. The Council adopted the Regulation on the suspension mechanism on 27 February 2017,219 _{paving the way}

for a vote in the European Parliament and subsequent adoption by the Council of the visa waiver system for Ukrainian citizens.220 _On

that same 27 February, the Council adopted a regulation on visa liberalisation for Georgians travelling to the EU for a period of 90 days in any 180-day period. 221 _{Meanwhile, Armenia has}

219 _{Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending}

Council Regulation (EC) No 539/2001 listing the third countries whose nationals must be in possession of visas when crossing the external borders and those whose nationals are exempt from that requirement (revision of the suspension mechanism), PE-CONS 58/16, 15 February 2017.

220 _{Council, “Visas: Council confirms agreement on visa liberalisation for}

Ukrainians”, Press release 98/17, 2 March 2017. Low-cost airline Ryanair was quick to follow suit. See V. Verbyany, “Ryanair Pushes East With First Flights From Untapped Ukraine”, Bloomberg, 15 March 2017. See Regulation (EU) 2017/850 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 May 2017 amending Regulation (EC) No 539/2001 listing the third countries whose nationals must be in possession of visas when crossing the external borders and those whose nationals are exempt from that requirement (Ukraine), OJ 2017 L 133 (entry into force on 11 June 2017).

221 _{See Council, “Visas: Council adopts regulation on visa liberalisation for}

Georgians”, Press release 88/17 27 February 2017; and Regulation (EU) 2017/372 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 1 March 2017 amending Regulation (EC) No 539/2001 listing the third countries whose nationals must be in possession of visas when crossing the external borders and those whose nationals are exempt from that requirement (Georgia), OJ 2017 L 61/7 (entry into force on 28 March 2017).

progressed on the track of visa facilitation, whereas Azerbaijan and Belarus lag behind due to the lack of political will of the authoritarian regimes to reform.

From the foregoing it can be deduced that visa liberalisation/facilitation between the European Union and the Eastern Partnership countries is simultaneously a technical and a highly political process. As visa policy acts as a safeguard against unlimited and unwanted migration as well as transborder organised crime, a visa-free regime is granted to countries that are deemed safe and well-governed, ensuring security and public order, and are not considered a potential source of undocumented economic migrants or asylum seekers. At the same time, visa liberalisation is conditional upon meeting a number of criteria in the realm of fundamental rights. Without respect for the latter, the visa liberalisation process cannot be completed. This visa policy has worked reasonably well, with Ukraine being the second biggest recipient of Schengen visas in the world (after Russia), and Belarus the fourth (ahead of Turkey).222