European Parliament urges immediate start of negotiations on Georgia-EU visa waiver
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Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have called on the Council of Europe (CoE) to start negotiations on exempting Georgian citizens from European Union (EU) visa requirements "without any further delay”.
In a letter sent yesterday to the Slovak Presidency [of the CoE], MEPs of the Committee of Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) invited the Council of Europe to open talks on Georgia’s visa liberalisation "as soon as possible at the beginning of November”.
There is no real reason for delaying the talks on Georgia´s visa waiver, given that both the European Parliament and the Council of Europe have approved mandates, following the confirmation by the European Commission that the country fulfilled all criteria,” MEPs stated.
The MEPs complained that the Council of Europe decided that " trilogues [negotiations between the European Parliament, EU states and the executive European Commission] on a visa waiver would not start before an agreement on the revision of the suspension mechanism is reached with the European Parliament”.
The lawmakers underlined that the inter-institutional discussions on the review of the suspension mechanism -which allows a temporary reintroduction of visa requirements in certain situations- are ongoing, with negotiators actively seeking solutions on the remaining open issues.
We urge @EUCouncil 2 open talks on a #visa#waiver for #Georgia wtout any further delay. @eu2016sk#Georgia has fulfilled all benchmarks. pic.twitter.com/L1hVXQNIZg
— Mariya Gabriel (@GabrielMariya) October 26, 2016
We cannot but regret the delay the Council of Europe statement has caused in the negotiations on visa liberalisation with Georgia”, LIBE Committee Chair Claude Moraes and Rapporteur Mariya Gabriel said in the letter.
Our guiding principle is that every country that meets all the benchmarks can benefit from visa liberalisation, and that is the case of Georgia”, underlined Gabriel, insisting that the EU must deliver on its promises.
There should be no further delay to move on this issue, she added, and reminded that visa liberalisation represented, in the context of the EU-Georgia partnership and the Eastern Partnership, a very concrete achievement for citizens.
Previous developments
- Visa liberalisation dialogue between Georgia and the EU started in June 2012.
- On March 9, 2016 the European Commission proposed to lift visa requirements for Georgian citizens following an assessment, published in December 2015, that the country had successfully complied with all criteria of its Visa Liberalisation Action Plan (VLAP).
- On September 5, 2016 European Parliament´s LIBE committee backed the European Commission´s proposal by 44 votes to 5 5 to grant Georgia visa-free travel.
- The Committee also approved the mandate to open negotiations with the CoE with a view to reach an agreement at the first reading, and the composition of the negotiating team, led by Gabriel.
The European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) has backed the plans to grant citizens of Georgia the right to travel to the Schengen area without a visa.
European Union (EU) Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn is confident Georgia will be granted visa liberalisation later this year.
About 150 officials from all over the European Union (EU) involved in European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) have voted in favour of Georgia gaining visa-free travel to the Schengen Zone.
Georgia meets all the benchmarks of its Visa Liberalisation Action Plan (VLAP), meaning in early 2016 the European Union (EU) will propose a legislative amendment to let Georgian citizens travel to the EU visa free.
Georgia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Mikheil Janelidze claims all indicators are present Georgia-European Union (EU) visa liberalisation negotiations to be successfully completed very soon.
President of the European Council Donald Tusk has sent a letter to President of the European Parliament Marti Schulz, stressing the importance of granting visa-free regime to Georgia and Ukraine.
“EU keeps its promise when a country delivers”
Visa free travel for Georgian citizens to the European Union is finally in sight after an agreement between the Council of Europe and the European Parliament over the suspension mechanism was reached.
The European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) has given yet another green light to Georgian visa liberalisation.
Previously it was believed Georgia would receive the long-awaited EU visa waiver by the end of April 2017, but now European Parliament (EP) members are saying this could happen as early as the beginning of March.
European Parliament approves visa-free travel for Georgian citizens
Today is the final stretch of a long marathon Georgia has been running for years: starting in spring, Georgian citizens will be able to travel visa-free to most countries of the European Union.