RAPORT referitor la propunerea de decizie a Consiliului privind încheierea Acordului dintre Comunitatea Europeană şi Ucraina privind facilitarea eliberării vizelor de scurtă şedere

5.10.2007 - (COM(2007)0190 – C6-0187/2007 – 2007/0069(CNS)) - *

Comisia pentru libertăţi civile, justiţie şi afaceri interne
Raportoare: Barbara Kudrycka

PROIECT DE REZOLUŢIE LEGISLATIVĂ A PARLAMENTULUI EUROPEAN

referitor la propunerea de decizie a Consiliului privind încheierea Acordului dintre Comunitatea Europeană şi Ucraina privind facilitarea eliberării vizelor de scurtă şedere

(COM(2007)0190 – C6‑0187/2007 – 2007/0069(CNS))

(Procedura de consultare)

Parlamentul European,

–   având în vedere propunerea de decizie a Consiliului (COM(2007)0190),

–   având în vedere articolul 63 alineatul (3) litera (b) şi articolul 300 alineatul (2) primul paragraf prima teză din Tratatul CE,

–   având în vedere articolul 300 alineatul (3) primul paragraf din Tratatul CE, în temeiul căruia a fost consultat de către Consiliu (C6-0187/2007),

–   având în vedere articolul 51 şi articolul 83 alineatul (7) din Regulamentul său de procedură,

–   având în vedere raportul Comisiei pentru libertăţi civile, justiţie şi afaceri interne şi avizul Comisiei pentru afaceri externe (A6-0363/2007),

1.  aprobă încheierea acordului;

2.  încredinţează Preşedintelui sarcina de a transmite poziţia Parlamentului Consiliului şi Comisiei, precum şi guvernelor şi parlamentelor statelor membre şi ale Ucrainei.

EXPUNERE DE MOTIVE

The Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee (LIBE) approves conclusion of two, mutually conditional and parallel agreements with Ukraine on readmission and facilitation of issuance of short-stay visas. The Committee welcomes these agreements, which together with forthcoming Visa Code, implementation of Visa Information System (VIS) and further cooperation in the field of justice and home affairs will extend an area of freedom and security reaching beyond EU to its immediate, very important neighbour.

The Committee believes that in the spirit of joint commitment and ownership, EU and Ukraine can effectively fight illegal immigration and contribute to the development of democracy, rule of law, human rights and civil society by encouraging easier contact and travel of people between two contracting parties. In this context, the Committee welcomes previous decision by the Ukrainian authorities to abolish visa requirement for EU citizens and is of the opinion that European Union is still in search of adequate response to that decision.

The Parliament in its recent Resolution on the negotiation mandate for enhanced EC-Ukraine agreement [P6_TA-PROV(2007)0355] recommended i.e. to "ensure effective implementation of visa facilitation and readmission agreements" and "envisage the objective of and necessary steps towards the introduction of a visa-free travel regime". The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs fully subscribes to those recommendations as to need for providing adequate technical and financial support for Ukraine by the EC and the European Commission in particular, in achieving high level of implementation of readmission agreement. Secondly, it turns attention that above mentioned recommendation is in line with declared intention included in the preamble to the agreement on the visa facilitation saying that the long term objective is a visa-free travel regime between EC and Ukraine.

There is also room for improvement on the side of European Commission to launch an information campaign and to find means and ways to make all the necessary information easily accessible to all travellers in the light of these and other agreements concluded in the framework of Neighbourhood Policy. So far, even Commission's website does not contain any systematic and transparent information on this subject.

It is strongly recommended for the committee monitoring implementation of these agreements as well as to the European Commission itself to identify any asymmetrical barriers preventing from reciprocate procedures becoming obstacles for travellers at the consulates, as well as, at the border crossings. In particular a study must be carried whether partial outsourcing of visa consular services may have an impact on the accessibility and possible undesired increase of visa prices or creating visa-shopping phenomenon.

Finally, the LIBE Committee expects from the European Commission to provide the Parliament with information on the results of the implementation of the agreements.

AVIZUL COMISIEI PENTRU AFACERI EXTERNE (21.9.2007)

for the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

on the proposal for a Council decision on the conclusion of the Agreement between the European Community and Ukraine on the facilitation of issuance of short-stay visas

(COM(2007)0190 – C6‑0187/2007 – 2007/0069(CNS))

Draftsman: István Szent-Iványi

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SHORT JUSTIFICATION

Your draftsman believes that the conclusion of the Agreement between the European Community and Ukraine on the facilitation of issuance of short-stay visas, in parallel to the readmission agreement, demonstrates a considerable step forward in implementing the ENP Action Plan endorsed by the EU-Ukraine Co-operation Council on 21 February 2005 as well as in fulfilling the objectives of facilitating mobility, managing migration and promoting people-to-people exchanges as outlined in the communication of the European Commission on strengthening the European Neighbourhood Policy (COM(2006)726).

The "package deal" on the two agreements is mutually beneficial for the EU and Ukraine. The agreement is the second in line following the one negotiated with the Russian Federation. It is broader in its scope that duly reflects the more ambitious co-operation agenda pursued by the parties in the framework of the European Neighbourhood Policy. Your draftsman welcomes that the agreement on the facilitation of issuance of short-stay visas introduces strict procedural deadlines, sets preferential visa fees including a full visa fee waiver for certain categories of persons (e.g. close relatives, students, journalists, children, pensioners and persons participating in cultural, educational exchange programmes and sport events), and provides for a simplified procedure in a number of cases. The agreement also includes a reference to the introduction of a visa-free travel regime for the citizens of Ukraine as a long term perspective. Your draftsman is of the view, that in the framework of the new enhanced agreement which is now being negotiated with Ukraine, a road-map of necessary steps towards visa facilitation for broader groups of the Ukrainian society, and, in the longer term, towards a visa-free travel regime should be envisaged.

Your draftsman calls on both parties for a speedy ratification so that the two agreements can enter into force on 1 January 2008.

Your draftsman draws attention to the fact that on 31 March 2005 President Yuschenko signed a decree "On Temporary Introduction of the visa-free regime for citizens of the Member States of the European Union and the Swiss Confederation". The decree established a visa-free regime of entry for 25 Member States of the EU and the Swiss Confederation. The visa-free regime in its present form is extended to an unlimited period and also introduced for Iceland and Norway's citizens. However, it does not apply to citizens of Bulgaria and Romania. While recognising that the visa-free regime introduced by Ukraine is a unilateral gesture of goodwill and its automatic extension to the Member States of the EU that joined after its introduction is not compulsory according to the principle of reciprocity, your draftsman considers that the EU, guided by the principle of solidarity, rightly insists on the inclusion of Bulgaria and Romania in the visa-free regime thus ensuring equal treatment for all EU Member States. Such extension would greatly contribute to a speedy ratification process of the two agreements as well as give new impetus to the ongoing negotiations on an enhanced co-operation agreement between the European Community and Ukraine.

Your draftsman welcomes the fact that the governments of Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia declared their willingness to enter into negotiations of bilateral agreements with Ukraine for the purpose of implementing the local border traffic regime established by Regulation (EC) 1931/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council.

Your draftsman considers that the proper implementation of the agreement is highly important, and calls on the Joint Committee for management of the Agreement to closely monitor it. Your draftsman also expects the European Commission to regularly inform the European Parliament on the implementation of the agreement, consult it before suggesting amendments or additions and take into due consideration the European Parliament's suggestions of amendments.

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The Committee on Foreign Affairs calls on the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, as the committee responsible, to propose approval of the Commission proposal.

PROCEDURĂ

Titlu	Acordul dintre CE şi Ucraina privind facilitarea eliberării vizelor de scurtă şedere
Referinţe	COM(2007)0190 - C6-0187/2007 - 2007/0069(CNS)
Comisia competentă în fond	LIBE
Comisia (comisiile) sesizată(e) pentru avizare        Data anunţului în plen	AFET 21.6.2007
Raportor(i)        Data numirii	István Szent-Iványi 5.6.2007
Examinare în comisie	12.9.2007
Data adoptării	12.9.2007
Rezultatul votului final	+: –: 0:	39 0 0
Membri titulari prezenţi la votul final	Christopher Beazley, Monika Beňová, Cristian Silviu Buşoi, Véronique De Keyser, Alfred Gomolka, Klaus Hänsch, Anna Ibrisagic, Jelko Kacin, Ioannis Kasoulides, Helmut Kuhne, Vytautas Landsbergis, Francisco José Millán Mon, Raimon Obiols i Germà, Vural Öger, Justas Vincas Paleckis, Ioan Mircea Paşcu, Alojz Peterle, João de Deus Pinheiro, Hubert Pirker, Samuli Pohjamo, Michel Rocard, Libor Rouček, José Ignacio Salafranca Sánchez-Neyra, Jacek Saryusz-Wolski, György Schöpflin, István Szent-Iványi, Antonio Tajani, Charles Tannock, Inese Vaidere, Geoffrey Van Orden, Josef Zieleniec
Membri supleanţi prezenţi la votul final	Milan Horáček, Gisela Kallenbach, Tunne Kelam, Jaromír Kohlíček, Doris Pack, Aloyzas Sakalas, Adrian Severin, Csaba Sándor Tabajdi

PROCEDURÃ

Titlu	Acordul dintre CE şi Ucraina privind facilitarea eliberării vizelor de scurtă şedere
Referinţe	COM(2007)0190 - C6-0187/2007 - 2007/0069(CNS)
Data consultării PE	19.6.2007
Comisia competentă în fond        Data anunţului în plen	LIBE 21.6.2007
Comisia (comisiile) sesizată(e) pentru avizare        Data anunţului în plen	AFET 21.6.2007
Raportor(i)        Data numirii	Barbara Kudrycka 21.5.2007
Examinare în comisie	17.7.2007		10.9.2007		3.10.2007
Data adoptării	3.10.2007
Rezultatul votului final	+: –: 0:	25 3 0
Membri titulari prezenţi la votul final	Alexander Alvaro, Philip Bradbourn, Michael Cashman, Jean-Marie Cavada, Carlos Coelho, Fausto Correia, Esther De Lange, Kinga Gál, Roland Gewalt, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, Lívia Járóka, Magda Kósáné Kovács, Barbara Kudrycka, Henrik Lax, Kartika Tamara Liotard, Sarah Ludford, Viktória Mohácsi, Martine Roure, Søren Bo Søndergaard, Vladimir Urutchev, Adina-Ioana Vălean, Ioannis Varvitsiotis
Membri supleanţi prezenţi la votul final	Inés Ayala Sender, Edit Bauer, Ona Juknevičienė, Jean Lambert, Antonio Masip Hidalgo, Siiri Oviir, Eva-Britt Svensson