Following a green light by the Council, the Commission in July put forward a proposal to change existing visa regulation with Western Balkans.
MEPs will on Wednesday afternoon (around. 15.40) hear Commissioner Jacques Barrot and the Council on the reasoning for this planned partial visa waiver for Western Balkans countries.
According to this proposal, to become effective by January 2010, citizens from the following 3 countries would no longer require visa for short term visits to Schengen countries, if they are holder of a biometric passport from either Serbia, Montenegro or the Former Yugoslav Rep. of Macedonia
On the other hand, citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania would still require visa to enter the Schengen area.
The justification is that the Commission said that the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia had met all requirements which are set out in the general regulation on visa regarding document security, illegal immigration, public order and security.
Serbia and Montenegro had met most of them and were close to meeting the remaining ones. "For Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina, the visa liberalisation dialogue will continue and the Commission will intensify its efforts to help these countries meet the benchmarks", stated the European Commission.
In September, MEP on the Foreign Affairs committee were critical of it, fearing that it could contribute to divisions within the Western Balkans and would lead to further inequalities among the citizens even within a country, as Bosnian Serbs often also have Serbian passport (and would, unlike their Bosnian compatriots, not need a visa).
MEPs are also likely to discuss implications for the fight against organised crime in the Western Balkans and the EU, as well as the general developments in the region ahead of the next Progress Reports on these countries by the Commission, due 14 October.
