To facilitate the sharing of knowledge, experience and good practice on visa liberalisation issues the delegation of experts and officials from the Eastern Partnership, Western Balkan states and Poland gathered for the meeting in Georgia on November 23-24.
The event was organized by the Caucasus Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development at support of the “Open Society” Foundation in Georgia. The discussion has been held in the frame of the project: “Experience of civic expertise and advocating of visa liberalization with the EU on the example of EaP countries”, elaborated by experts of Europe without Barriers and supported by the International Renaissance Foundation East East Programme.
During the round-table, the quality of implementation of the main legal acts in visa and migration realm has been discussed. A particular attention has been made to the comparative analysis of the implementation of the EU Visa Code and Visa Facilitation Agreements between the EU and three of EaP countries. In this regard experts came to the point that all the progressive provisions of the abovementioned legal acts are not implemented properly. Experts also concluded that reasons of such a high visa refusal rate in Georgia should be further analyzed and be a subject of regular independent monitoring.
During the event particular attention has been directed to the discussion of conditions and prospects for visa liberalisation between the EU and Georgia. This month the EU will deliver Visa Liberalisation Action Plan to Georgia. The fulfillment of its benchmarks will make Georgian citizens closer to visa free regime with the EU. As the action plans have been already handed over to Moldova and Ukraine, discussion on potential technical or any other problems Georgia might face in implementation of the VLAP also took place.
Experts from Ukraine, Moldova and Macedonia shared its experience in carrying out reforms in the sphere of “justice, freedom and security”. The accent on the necessity to establish the greatest possible open, transparent and accountable mechanism of the implementation process with its active involvement of civil society has been made.
Experts from Europe without Barriers are convinced that “Civil society should become a partner in a VLAP reforms implementation process”.
Experts also do believe that “Independent Monitoring assessment of Visa Liberalisation Action Plan can push government to consolidate its efforts in providing qualitative, not quantitate fulfillment of technical criteria’s, required from the EU. As these reforms first of all are carrying out for society’s sake”.
Also during the event, members of Visa-Free Europe Coalition made a presentation of a new research: Eastern Partnership Visa Liberalisation Index – a tool that shows the results of independent assessment of progress achieved by the Eastern Partnership countries towards visa liberalisation with the EU as well as the level of reforms implementation in visa and migration sphere.
More on the research you can find out on web: www.novisa.org.ua, www.visa-free-europe.eu
The list of organizations participated in the event:
· Europe without Barriers, a Ukrainian NGO(Ukraine),
· Stefan Batory Foundation (Poland),
· Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (Moldova),
· Caucasus Institute for Peace, Development and Democracy (Georgia),
· Center for Economic and Social Development (Azerbaijan),
· Analytical Centre on Globalization and Regional Cooperation (Armenia),
· PASOS (the Policy Association for an Open Society – the Czech Republic),
· Georgian government officials,
· Officials of the consulates of Schengen Area states,
· Representatives of the International Organization for Migration
