With the Action Plan on Visa Liberalisation, travelling to the European Union without visas seems closer than ever. However, the set of reforms to be implemented by Ukraine to achieve the visa-free regime is very demanding. The key question is whether it will be enough for Ukraine to implement the reforms to get no more visas. Will the EU really base its decision on the fulfulliment of the reforms? This article was written for the Kyiv Post newspaper by Raul Hernandez i Sagrera
Raul Hernandez i Sagrera
The liberalisation of Schengen visas for Ukrainian citizens constitutes without a doubt one of the top priorities of the cooperation between the EU and Ukraine, alongside with the negotiations on a free trade agreement. Indeed, when Ukraine and the EU approved their first Action Plan on Justice and Home Affairs in 2001 they foresaw the suppression of the current visa regime with the Schengen area as a long-term goal. After 10 years of uncertainty of when and under what conditions Schengen visas would be lifted for Ukrainian citizens, Brussels presented an Action Plan on visa liberalisation to the Kyiv authorities on Dec. 22. The visa liberalisation process follows in principle a pattern of conditionality whereby Ukraine should fulfill a set of benchmarks before the abolition of the visa regime. Will this Action Plan be finally the decisive step that paves the way to travelling to the EU without visas for Ukrainian citizens?
A few notes on the context surrounding the Schengen liberalisation process should be taken into acount. First, it entails only the so-called short-term visas, which allow for up 90 days travel in the Schengen area within a six-month period.
Second, we must recall that, as a first step towards visa liberalisation, a visa facilitation agreement between Brussels and Kyiv entered into force in June 2008. Officials foresaw the easening of the visa application procedure for certain categories of people, among them students, researchers and business people.
Third, we should also bear in mind that the Schengen regime is currently showing signs of weakness at the internal level.
Finally, the lifting of visas in the Western Balkan countries in 2009-2010 preceded the visa liberalisation process in Ukraine. In the framework of visa liberalisation roadmaps, reforms had to be fulfilled in document security (introduction of biometrics), migration management, public order and security (adoption of Council of Europe Conventions in data protection, human trafficking, among others) and human rights and fundamental freedoms.
The success story of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia gave originally hope to the Eastern Partnership countries. The same set of reforms has been included in the Visa Liberalisation Action Plans launched so far in Ukraine and Moldova. However, a comparative analysis of the documents shows a series of differences. On the one hand, the Action Plan is subdivided into two phases: the first on legislation and planning and the second on implementation of the reforms. This two-phased approach inevitably leads to a slow-down in the process. Second, the content of the reforms is much more far-reaching in the Action Plans. For instance, in the block on migration management, the complete demilitarisation of the Interior Ministry, as well as the full operability of the state migration service are vital.
Full article you can read on the KyivPost website
