Another step forward: EU Council gives green light to Georgia’s visa waiver

Georgian citizens are one step closer to gaining visa-free travel to the European Union (EU) after EU diplomats gave the green light to Georgia’s visa liberalisation today.

The Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper) of the Governments of Member States to the EU this afternoon approved a set of amendments to the text of Georgia’s visa liberalisation agreement, adopted by three EU institutions earlier this month.

Coreper - consisting of member states' Ambassador’s to the EU - backed Georgia’s visa liberalisation on behalf of the EU Council.

Coreper’s support meant Georgia’s visa liberalisation deal was now allowed to be passed to the European Parliament, where the document will be first discussed by the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE).

The Council has demonstrated its strong commitment to visa-free travel for Georgian citizens, taking into account Georgia's hard work. The Presidency believes that the path of credible reforms is the right one and should be encouraged," said Robert Kalinak, Interior Minister of Slovakia and President of the European Council.

It was the recent upgrade of the suspension mechanism that allowed us to inject a new momentum into talks on visa liberalisation with countries fulfilling all criteria. At the same time, this upgrade will help ensure that those criteria will continue to be met."

The Council added that the entry into force of visa liberalisation for Georgia should be at the same time as the entry into force of the new "suspension mechanism".

Georgia’s Foreign Minister Mikheil Janelidze went to Twitter to express his gratitude towards Slovakia, current EU Council president country.

EU coreper gave green light to #Georgia#visafree today! Thank you #Slovakia@MiroslavLajcak Next stop is #EP

— Mikheil Janelidze (@JanelidzeMkh) December 20, 2016

What’s next?

1.The agreed amendments of the new rules must now be approved by the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE).

2.This will be followed by a vote at the European Parliament’s plenary session, after which the amended regulations will be formally approved by the EU Council at the level of Ministers.

3.Upon signature of the legislative amendment by the President of the European Parliament and a representative of the country holding the EU presidency, the regulations will be published in the official journal of the EU.

4.Visa free travel will be granted to Georgia upon entry into force of the amended suspension mechanism regulation.

All of these procedures were believed to be completed by the end of April 2017.