# EUR-Lex - 52013PC0742 - EN

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# 52013PC0742

**Proposal for a COUNCIL DECISION on the conclusion of the Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Azerbaijan on the facilitation of the issuance of visas /* COM/2013/0742 final - 2013/0356 (NLE) */**

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

I.            POLITICAL AND LEGAL
FRAMEWORK

In the context of the Warsaw Eastern
Partnership Summit Declaration of 30 September 2011, the EU and the partner
countries confirmed their political support for enhancing mobility of citizens
in a secure and well-managed environment and reaffirmed their intention to take
gradual steps towards a visa free regime for their citizens in due course.

On that basis and as a
first concrete step forward, the Commission presented
on 16 September 2011 a recommendation to the Council in order to authorise the
Commission to open negotiations with the Republic of Azerbaijan on a Visa
Facilitation Agreement.

Following the
authorisation given by the Council on 19 December 2011,
the negotiations with the Republic of Azerbaijan on a
Visa Facilitation Agreement were opened in Baku on 1 March 2012. Three
further rounds of negotiations took place on 1 June 2012 in Brussels, 6
November 2012 in Baku and on 13 March 2013 in Brussels. The final text of the
Agreement was initialled in Brussels on 29 July 2013 by the chief negotiators.

Member States have been
regularly informed and consulted in the relevant Council Working Groups at all
stages of the negotiations.

On the part of the
Union, the legal basis for the Agreement is Article 77(2)(a), in conjunction
with Article 218 of the TFEU.

The Commission signed the
Agreement on [...] In accordance with Art. 218(6)(a) of the TFEU the European
Parliament's consent for the conclusion of the Agreement was given on [...].

II.          OUTCOME OF THE
NEGOTIATIONS

The Commission considers that the
objectives set by the Council in its negotiating directives were attained and
that the draft Agreement is acceptable to the Union.

The final content of it can be summarised
as follows:

–
in principle, for all visa applicants, a
decision on whether or not to issue a visa will have to be taken within 10
calendar days. This period may be extended up to 30 calendar days when further
scrutiny is needed. In urgent cases, the period for taking a decision may be
reduced to two working days or less. As a rule, the visa applicants can have an
appointment for lodging their application within a period of two weeks from the
date of request and in cases of urgency immediately or without an appointment.

–
the visa fee for processing applications of citizens
of the European Union and the Republic of Azerbaijan shall amount to EUR 35.
This fee will be applied to all visa applicants and concerns both single and
multiple-entry visas. Moreover, certain categories of persons benefit from a
full waiver of the visa fee: pensioners, close relatives, members of official
delegations participating in government activities, pupils, students and
post-graduate students, persons with disabilities, journalists and the
technical crew accompanying them, representatives of civil society
organisations, children under the age of 12, humanitarian cases and persons
participating in scientific, cultural, artistic activities and sport events;

–
the documents to be presented regarding the
purpose of the journey have been simplified for some categories of persons:
close relatives, business people, members of official delegations, pupils,
students and post-graduate students, participants in scientific, cultural and
sporting events, journalists, persons visiting military and civil burials,
representatives of civil society, members of the professions, drivers
conducting international cargo and passenger transportation services,
participants in official exchange programmes of twin cities and persons
visiting for medical reasons. For these categories of persons, only the
documents listed in the agreement can be requested for justifying the purpose
of the journey. No other justification, invitation or validation provided for
by the legislation of the Member States or the Republic of Azerbaijan is
required;

–
there are also simplified criteria for issuing
multiple-entry visas for the following categories of persons:

(a)
for permanent members of official delegations
and spouses and children visiting citizens of the European Union legally
residing in the territory of Azerbaijan or citizens of the Republic of
Azerbaijan legally residing in the Member States or EU citizens residing in the
territory of the Member States of which they are nationals or citizens of the
Republic of Azerbaijan residing in the territory of Azerbaijan: visas valid for
five years (or shorter, limited to the period of the validity of their mandate
or authorisation for legal residence);

(b)
participants in scientific, cultural, official
exchange programmes and sport events, journalists, students, business people, members
of official delegations, representatives of civil society, members of the
professions and drivers, provided that during the previous two years they have
made good use of 1 year multiple-entry visas and the reasons for requesting a
multiple-entry are still valid: visas valid for a minimum of two years and a
maximum of 5 years are issued;

–
citizens of the European Union and the Republic
of Azerbaijan who are holders of valid diplomatic passports are exempted from
the visa requirement for short-stays.

–
a protocol addresses the specific situation of
the Member States that do not fully apply the Schengen acquis yet and
their unilateral recognition of Schengen visas and residence permits issued to citizens
of the Republic of Azerbaijan for the purpose of transit through their
territory in accordance with Council Decision N° 582/2008/EC.

–
A Joint Declaration is attached to the Agreement
on the implementation of Article 10 on diplomatic passports.

–
A Joint Declaration is attached to the Agreement
on cooperation on travel documents and regular exchange of information on
travel document security.

–
A Joint Declaration reaffirming that the
Agreement does not affect the possibility of individual Member States and the
Republic of Azerbaijan to conclude bilateral Visa Waiver Agreements for holders
of service passports.

–
the specific situations of Denmark, the United
Kingdom and Ireland are reflected in the preamble. The close association of
Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the implementation,
application and development of the Schengen acquis is reflected in a
Joint Declaration to the Agreement.

III.         CONCLUSIONS

In light of the above-mentioned results,
the Commission proposes that the Council

–
approve, after having received consent from the
European Parliament, the attached Agreement between the European Union and the
Republic of Azerbaijan on the facilitation of the issuance of visas.

2013/0356 (NLE)

Proposal for a

COUNCIL DECISION

on the conclusion of the Agreement between
the European Union and the Republic of Azerbaijan on the facilitation of the
issuance of visas

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on European
Union,

Having regard to the Treaty on the
Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 77(2)(a), in conjunction with Article 218(6)(a), thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the
European Commission,

Having regard to the
consent of the European Parliament[1],

Whereas:

(1)       In
accordance with Council Decision 2013/XXX of [...][2], the Agreement between the
European Union and the Republic of Azerbaijan on the
facilitation of the issuance of visas was signed by the
Commission on [...], subject to its conclusion at a later date.

(2)       In accordance with the
Protocol on the position of the United Kingdom and Ireland in respect of the
area of freedom, security and justice and the Protocol on the Schengen acquis
integrated into the framework of the European Union, annexed to the Treaty
on European Union and to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
the provisions of this Agreement do not apply to the United Kingdom and Ireland.

(3)       In accordance with the
Protocol on the position of Denmark annexed to the Treaty on European Union and
to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the provisions of this
Agreement do not apply to Denmark.

(4)       The agreement should be
approved on behalf of the European Union,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

The Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Azerbaijan
on the facilitation of the issuance of visas is hereby approved on behalf of the Union.

The text of the Agreement is attached to
this Decision.

Article 2

The President of the Council shall
designate the person empowered to proceed, on behalf of the European Union, to
the notification provided for in Article 14(1) of the Agreement, in order to
express the consent of the European Union to be bound by the Agreement.

Article 3

This Decision shall enter into force on the
day of its adoption. It shall be published in the Official Journal of the
European Union.

The date of entry into force of the
Agreement shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Done at Brussels,

For
the Council

The
President

ANNEX

AGREEMENT
between
the European Union and the Republic of Azerbaijan
on the facilitation of the issuance of visas

THE EUROPEAN UNION hereinafter referred to
as 'the Union';

and

THE REPUBLIC OF AZERBAIJAN,

hereinafter referred to as 'the Parties';

DESIRING to facilitate
people to people contacts as an important condition for a steady development of
economic, humanitarian, cultural, scientific and other ties, by facilitating the issuing of visas to
citizens of the Union and the Republic of Azerbaijan on a basis of reciprocity,

BEARING IN MIND the Agreement on Partnership and
Cooperation establishing a Partnership between the Union and its Member States,
of the one part, and the Republic of Azerbaijan, of the other part, as well as
the negotiations on an EU-Azerbaijan Association Agreement which were launched
in 2010,

HAVING REGARD to the Joint Declaration of
the Prague Eastern Partnership Summit held on 7 May 2009 stating the political
support towards visa liberalization of the visa regime in a secure environment,

RECOGNISING that visa facilitation should
not lead to irregular migration and paying special attention to security and
readmission,

TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the Protocol on the
position of the United Kingdom and Ireland in respect of the area of freedom,
security and justice and the Protocol of the Schengen acquis integrated
into the framework of the European Union, annexed to the Treaty on European
Union and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and confirming
that the provisions of this Agreement do not apply to the United Kingdom and
Ireland,

TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the Protocol on the
position of Denmark annexed to the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty on
the Functioning of the European Union, and confirming that the provisions of
this agreement do not apply to the Kingdom of Denmark,

HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

Purpose and scope of application

The purpose of
this Agreement is to facilitate, on the basis of reciprocity, the issuance of
visas for an intended stay of no more than 90 days per period of 180 days to
the citizens of the Union and the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Article 2

General clause

1. The visa
facilitations provided in this Agreement shall apply to citizens of the Union
and of the Republic of Azerbaijan only insofar as they are not exempted from
the visa requirement by the laws and regulations of the Republic of Azerbaijan,
of the Union or the Member States, this Agreement or other international
Agreements.

2. The
national law of the Republic of Azerbaijan or of the Member States or Union law
shall apply to issues not covered by the provisions of this Agreement, such as
the refusal to issue a visa, recognition of travel documents, proof of
sufficient means of subsistence and the refusal of entry and expulsion
measures.

Article 3

Definitions

For the purpose of this Agreement:

(a) 'Member
State' shall mean any Member State of the European Union, with the exception of
the Kingdom of Denmark, the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom;

(b) 'Citizen
of the Union' shall mean a national of a Member State as defined in point (a);

(c) 'Citizen
of the Republic of Azerbaijan' shall mean any person who holds the citizenship
of the Republic of Azerbaijan in accordance with its legislation in force;

(d) 'visa'
shall mean an authorisation issued by a Member State or the Republic of
Azerbaijan with a view to transiting through, or an intended stay of a duration
of no more than 90 days in any 180-day period, in the territory of Member
States or the Republic of Azerbaijan;

(e) 'legally
residing person' shall mean :

- for the
Republic of Azerbaijan, a citizen of the Union who acquired temporary or
permanent residence permit for a period of more than 90 days in the territory
of the Republic of Azerbaijan,

- for the
Union, a citizen of the Republic of Azerbaijan authorized or entitled to stay
for more than 90 days in the territory of a Member State, on the basis of Union
law or national legislation.

Article 4

Documentary evidence regarding the
purpose of the journey

1. For the
following categories of citizens of the Union and of the Republic of
Azerbaijan, the following documents are sufficient for justifying the purpose
of the journey to the other Party:

(a) for close
relatives – spouses, children (including adopted), parents (including
custodians), grandparents and grand-children – visiting citizens of the
European Union legally residing in the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan
or citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan legally residing in the Member
States, or citizens of the European Union residing in the territory of the
Member State of which they are nationals, or citizens of the Republic of
Azerbaijan residing in the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan:

- a written
request from the host person;

(b) without
prejudice to Article 10, for members of official delegations including
permanent members of such delegations who, following an official invitation
addressed to the Member States, the European Union or the Republic of
Azerbaijan, shall participate in official meetings, consultations, negotiations
or exchange programmes, as well as in events held in the territory of the
Republic of Azerbaijan or one of the Member States by intergovernmental
organisations:

- a letter
issued by a competent authority of a Member State or of the Republic of
Azerbaijan or by an institution of the European Union confirming that the
applicant is a member of its delegation respectively or a permanent member of
its delegation travelling to the territory of the other Party to participate in
the aforementioned events, accompanied by a copy of the official invitation;

(c) for
business people and representatives of business organisations:

- a written
request from the host legal person or company, organization or an office or a
branch of such legal person or company, state, or local authorities of the
Republic of Azerbaijan or the Member States or organising committees or trade
and industrial exhibitions, conferences and symposia held in the territory of
the Republic of Azerbaijan or one of the Member States endorsed by the competent
authorities in accordance with the national legislation;

(d) for
drivers conducting international cargo and passenger transportation services
between the territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Member States in
vehicles registered in the Member States or in the Republic of Azerbaijan:

- a written
request from the national company or association (union) of carriers of the
Republic of Azerbaijan or the national associations of carriers of the Member
States providing for international road transportation, stating the purpose,
itinerary, duration and frequency of the trips;

(e) for
pupils, students, post-graduate students and accompanying teachers who
undertake trips for the purposes of study or educational training, including in
the framework of exchange programmes as well as other school related
activities:

- a written
request or a certificate of enrolment from the host university, academy,
institute, college or school or student cards or certificates of the courses to
be attended;

(f) for persons
participating in scientific, academic, cultural or artistic activities,
including university and other exchange programmes:

- a written
request from the host organisation to participate in those activities;

(g) for
journalists and technical crew accompanying them in a professional capacity:

- a
certificate or other document issued by a professional organization or the
applicant's employer proving that the person concerned is a qualified
journalist and stating that the purpose of the journey is to carry out
journalistic work or proving that he/she is a member of technical crew
accompanying the journalist in a professional capacity;

(h) for
participants in international sports events and persons accompanying them in a
professional capacity:

- a written
request from the host organization, competent authorities, national sport
Federations of the Member States or the Republic of Azerbaijan or National
Olympic Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan or National Olympic Committees
of the Member States;

(i) for
participants in official exchange programmes organized by twin cities:

- a written
request of the Head of Administration/Mayor of these cities;

(j) for
persons travelling for medical reasons and necessary accompanying persons:

- an official
document of the medical institution confirming necessity of medical care in
this institution, the necessity of being accompanied and proof of sufficient
financial means to pay for the medical treatment;

(k) for
members of the professions participating in international exhibitions,
conferences, symposia, seminars or other similar events held on the territory
of the Republic of Azerbaijan or Member States:

- a written
request from the host organization confirming that the person concerned is
participating in the event;

(l) for
representatives of civil society organizations when undertaking trips for the
purposes of educational training, seminars, conferences, including in the
framework of exchange programmes:

- a written
request issued by the host organization, a confirmation that the person is
representing the civil society organization and the certificate on
establishment of such organization from the relevant register issued by a state
authority in accordance with the national legislation;

(m) relatives
visiting for burial ceremonies:

- an official
document confirming the fact of death as well as confirmation of the family or
other relationship between the applicant and the buried;

(n) for
visiting military and civil burial grounds:

- an official
document confirming the existence and preservation of the grave as well as
family or other relationship between the applicant and the buried;

2. The written
request mentioned in paragraph 1 of this Article shall include the following
items:

(a) for the
invited person: name and surname, date of birth, sex, citizenship, passport
number, time and purpose of the journey, number of entries and where relevant
the name of the spouse and children accompanying the invited person;

(b) for the
inviting person: name, surname and address;

(c) for the
inviting legal person, company or organisation: full name and address and:

- if the
request is issued by an organisation or authority, the name and position of the
person who signs the request;

- if the
inviting person is a legal person or company or an office or a branch of such
legal person or company established in the territory of a Member State or in
the Republic of Azerbaijan, the registration number as required by the national
law of the Member State concerned or by the Azerbaijani law.

3. For the
categories of persons mentioned in paragraph 1 of this Article, all categories
of visas are issued according to the simplified procedure without requiring any
other justification, invitation or validation concerning the purpose of the
journey, provided for by the legislation of the Parties.

Article 5

Issuance of multiple-entry visas

1. Diplomatic
missions and consular posts of the Member States and of the Republic of
Azerbaijan shall issue multiple-entry visas with a term of validity of 5 years
to the following categories of citizens:

(a) spouses,
children (including adopted), who are under the age of 21 or are dependant,
parents (including custodians), visiting citizens of the European Union legally
residing in the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan or citizens of the
Republic of Azerbaijan legally residing in the territory of the Member States,
or citizens of the European Union residing in the territory of the Member State
of which they are nationals, or citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan residing
in the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan;

(b) permanent members
of official delegations, who following an official invitation addressed to the
Member States, the European Union or the Republic of Azerbaijan, are to
participate regularly in meetings, consultations, negotiations or exchange
programmes, as well as in events held in the territory of the Republic of the
Azerbaijan or one of the Member States by intergovernmental organisations;

By way of
derogation from the first sentence, where the need or the intention to travel
frequently or regularly is manifestly limited to a shorter period, the term of
validity of the multiple-entry visa shall be limited to that period, in
particular where:

- in the case
of the persons referred to in point (a), the period of validity of the
authorisation for legal residence of citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan
legally residing in one of the Member States or citizens of the Union legally
residing in the Republic of Azerbaijan;

- in the case
of the persons referred to in point (b), the term of the validity of the status
as a permanent member of an official delegation,

is less than
five years.

2. Diplomatic
missions and consular posts of the Member States and of the Republic of
Azerbaijan shall issue multiple-entry visas with the term of validity of one
year to the following categories of citizens, provided that during the previous
year they have obtained at least one visa, have made use of it in accordance
with the laws on entry and stay of the visited State:

(a) students,
post-graduate students who regularly travel for the purposes of study or
educational training, including in the framework of exchange programmes;

(b) journalists
and technical crew accompanying them in a professional capacity;

(c) participants
in official exchange programmes organised by twin cities;

(d) drivers
conducting international cargo and passenger transportation services between
the territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Member States in vehicles
registered in the Member States or the Republic of Azerbaijan;

(e) persons
needing to visit regularly for medical reasons and necessary accompanying
persons;

(f) members of
the professions participating in international exhibitions, conferences,
symposia, seminars or other similar events who regularly travel to the Republic
of Azerbaijan or the Member States;

(g) representatives
of civil society organizations travelling regularly to the Republic of
Azerbaijan or the Member States for the purposes of educational training,
seminars, conferences, including in the framework of exchange programmes;

(h) persons
participating in scientific, cultural and artistic activities, including
university and other exchange programmes, who regularly travel to the Republic
of Azerbaijan or the Member States;

(i) participants
in international sports events and persons accompanying them in a professional
capacity;

(j) members of
official delegations who, following an official invitation addressed to the
Member State, the European Union or the Republic of Azerbaijan, shall
participate regularly in meetings, consultations, negotiations or exchange
programmes, as well as in events held in the territory of the Republic of
Azerbaijan or of the Member States by intergovernmental organisations;

(k) business
people and representatives of business organisations who regularly travel to
the Republic of Azerbaijan or the Member States.

By way of
derogation from the first sentence, where the need or the intention to travel
frequently or regularly is manifestly limited to a shorter period, the term of
validity of the multiple-entry visa shall be limited to that period.

3. Diplomatic
missions and consular posts of the Member States and of the Republic of
Azerbaijan shall issue multiple-entry visas with the term of validity of a
minimum of 2 years and a maximum of 5 years to the categories of persons
referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article, provided that during the previous 2
years they have made use of the one year multiple-entry visas in accordance
with the laws on entry and stay of the visited State, unless the need or the
intention to travel frequently or regularly is manifestly limited to a shorter
period, in which case the term of validity of the multiple-entry visa shall be
limited to that period.

4. The total
period of stay of persons referred to in paragraphs 1 to 3 of this Article
shall not exceed 90 days per period of 180 days in the territory of the Member
States or in the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Article 6

Fees for processing visa
applications

1. The fee for
processing visa applications shall amount to EUR 35.

The
aforementioned amount may be reviewed in accordance with the procedure provided
for in Article 14(4).

2. Without
prejudice to paragraph 3, fees for processing the visa application are waived for
the following categories of persons:

(a) for close
relatives – spouses, children (including adopted), parents (including
custodians), grandparents and grand-children – of citizens of the European
Union legally residing in the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan, of
citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan legally residing in the territory of the
Member States, of citizens of the European Union residing in the territory of
the Member State of which they are nationals, and of citizens of the Republic
of Azerbaijan residing in the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan;

(b) for
members of official delegations, including permanent members of official
delegations, who, following an official invitation addressed to the Member
States, the European Union or the Republic of Azerbaijan, shall participate in
official meetings, consultations, negotiations or exchange programmes, as well
as in events held in the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan or one of the
Member States by intergovernmental organisations;

(c) pupils,
students, post-graduate students and accompanying teachers who undertake trips
for the purposes of study or educational training, including in the framework
of exchange programmes as well as other school related activities;

(d) persons
with disabilities and persons accompanying them, if necessary;

(e) participants
in international sports events and persons accompanying them in a professional
capacity;

(f) persons
participating in scientific, cultural and artistic activities, including
university and other exchange programmes;

(g) persons
who have presented documents proving the necessity of their travel on
humanitarian grounds, including to receive urgent medical treatment and the
person accompanying such person, or to attend a funeral of a close relative, or
to visit a seriously ill close relative;

(h) representatives
of civil society organizations when undertaking trips for the purposes of
educational training, seminars, conferences, including in the framework of
exchange programmes;

(i) pensioners;

(j) children
under the age of 12;

(k) journalists
and technical crew accompanying them in a professional capacity.

3. If a Member
State or the Republic of Azerbaijan cooperates with an external service
provider in view of issuing a visa the external service provider may charge a
service fee. This fee shall be proportionate to the costs incurred by the
external service provider while performing its tasks and shall not exceed EUR
30. The Member States and the Republic of Azerbaijan shall maintain the possibility
for all applicants to lodge their applications directly at their consulates.

For the Union,
the external service provider shall conduct its operations in accordance with
the Visa Code and in full respect of the legislation of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

For the
Republic of Azerbaijan, the external service provider shall conduct its
operations in accordance with the Azerbaijani legislation and of the
legislation of the EU Member States.

Article 7

Length of procedures for processing
visa applications

1. Diplomatic
missions and consular posts of the Member States and the Republic of Azerbaijan
shall take a decision on the request to issue a visa within 10 calendar days of
the date of the receipt of the application and documents required for issuing
the visa.

2. The period
of time for taking a decision on a visa application may be extended up to 30
calendar days in individual cases, notably when further scrutiny of the
application is needed.

3. The period
of time for taking a decision on a visa application may be reduced to 2 working
days or less in urgent cases.

If applicants
are required to obtain an appointment for the lodging of an application the
appointment shall, as a rule, take place within a period of two weeks from the
date when the appointment was requested. Notwithstanding the foregoing
sentence, external service providers shall ensure that a visa application, as a
rule, can be lodged without undue delay.

In justified
cases of urgency, the consulate may allow applicants to lodge their applications
either without appointment, or an appointment shall be given immediately.

Article 8

Departure in case of lost or stolen
documents

Citizens of
the European Union and the Republic of Azerbaijan who have lost their identity
documents, or from whom these documents have been stolen while staying in the
territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan or the Member States, may leave the
territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan or the Member States on the basis of
valid identity documents entitling them to cross the border issued by
diplomatic missions or consular posts of the Member States or of the Republic
of Azerbaijan without any visa or other authorisation.

Article 9

Extension of visa in exceptional
circumstances

Citizens of
the European Union and the Republic of Azerbaijan who are not able to leave the
territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan or the territory of the Member States
by the time stated in their visas for reasons of force majeure shall have the
period of validity and/or the duration of stay of the issued visa extended free
of charge in accordance with the legislation applied by the Republic of
Azerbaijan or the receiving Member State for the period required for their
return to the State of their residence.

Article 10

Diplomatic passports

1. Citizens of
the European Union and the Republic of Azerbaijan who are holders of valid
diplomatic passports may enter, leave and transit through the territories of
the Republic of Azerbaijan or the Member States without visas.

2. Persons
mentioned in paragraph 1 may stay in the territory of the Republic of
Azerbaijan or the territories of Member States for a period not exceeding 90
days per period of 180 days.

Article 11

Territorial validity of visas

Subject to the
national rules and regulations concerning national security of the Republic of
Azerbaijan and of the Member States and subject to EU rules on visas with
limited territorial validity, citizens of the Union and Azerbaijani citizens
shall be entitled to travel within the territory of the Member States and of the
Republic of Azerbaijan on equal basis with the Republic of Azerbaijan and
European Union citizens.

Article 12

Joint Committee for management of
the Agreement

1. The Parties
shall set up a Joint Committee of experts (hereinafter referred to as “the
Committee”), composed of representatives of the Union and of the Republic of
Azerbaijan. The Union shall be represented by the European Commission, assisted
by experts from the Member States.

2. The
Committee shall, in particular, have the following tasks:

(a) monitoring
the implementation of the present Agreement;

(b) suggesting
amendments or additions to the present Agreement;

(c) settling
disputes arising out of the interpretation or application of the provisions in
this Agreement.

3. The
Committee shall meet whenever necessary at the request of one of the Parties
and at least once a year.

4. The
Committee shall establish its rules of procedure.

Article 13

Relation of this Agreement with
bilateral Agreements between Member States and the Republic of Azerbaijan

As from its
entry into force, this Agreement shall take precedence over provisions of any
bilateral or multilateral agreements or arrangements concluded between
individual Member States and the Republic of Azerbaijan, insofar as the
provisions of the latter agreements or arrangements cover issues dealt with by
this Agreement.

Article 14

Final clauses

1. This Agreement shall be ratified or approved by the
Parties in accordance with their respective procedures and shall enter into force on the first day of the second month following the
date on which the Parties notify each other that the procedures referred to
above have been completed.

2. By way of derogation from paragraph 1 of this
Article, this Agreement shall only enter into force on the date of the entry
into force of the Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of
Azerbaijan on readmission if this date is after the date provided for in
paragraph 1 of this Article.

3. This
Agreement is concluded for an indefinite period of time, unless terminated in
accordance with paragraph 6 of this Article.

4. This
Agreement may be amended by written agreement of the Parties. Amendments shall
enter into force after the Parties have notified each other of the completion
of their internal procedures necessary for this purpose.

5. Each Party
may suspend in whole or in part this Agreement for reasons of public order,
protection of national security or protection of public health. The decision on
suspension shall be notified to the other Party not later than 48 hours before
its entry into force. The Party that has suspended the application of this
Agreement shall immediately inform the other Party once the reasons for the
suspension no longer apply.

6. Each Party
may terminate this Agreement by giving written notice to the other Party. This
Agreement shall cease to be in force 90 days after the date of such
notification.

Done in XXX on
XXX, in duplicate each in the Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch,
English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian,
Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish,
Swedish and Azerbaijani languages, each of these texts being equally authentic.

For the Union                                                                   For
the Republic of Azerbaijan

PROTOCOL

to the Agreement on the Member States that do not fully apply the
Schengen acquis

Those Member
States which are bound by the Schengen acquis but which do not issue yet
Schengen visas, while awaiting the relevant decision of the Council to that
end, shall issue national visas the validity of which is limited to their own
territory.

In accordance
with Decision No 582/2008/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of
17 June 2008 introducing a simplified regime for the control of
persons at the external borders based on the unilateral recognition by
Bulgaria, Cyprus and Romania of certain documents as equivalent to their
national visas for the purposes of transit through their territories[3] harmonised measures have been
taken in order to simplify the transit of holders of Schengen visa and Schengen
residence permits through the territory of the Member States that do not fully
apply the Schengen acquis yet.

Joint Declaration on Article 10 of the Agreement on diplomatic
passports

The Union or
the Republic of Azerbaijan might invoke a partial suspension of the agreement
and in particular of Article 10, in accordance with the procedure set up by
Article 14 (5), if the implementation of Article 10 is abused by the other
Party or leads to a threat to public security.

In case of suspension
of the implementation of Article 10, both Parties shall initiate consultations
within the framework of the Joint Committee set up by the agreement with a view
to solve the problems that lead to the suspension.

As a priority, both Parties declare their commitment to ensure a
high level of document security for diplomatic passports, in particular by
integrating biometric identifiers. For the Union, this will be ensured in compliance with the requirements set out
in Regulation (EC) 2252/2004 of 13 December 2004 on standards for security
features and biometrics in passports and travel documents issued by Member
States[4].

Joint Declaration concerning Denmark

The Parties
take note that the present Agreement does not apply to the procedures for
issuing visas by the diplomatic missions and consular services of Denmark.

In such
circumstances, it is desirable that the authorities of Denmark and of the
Republic of Azerbaijan conclude, without delay, a bilateral agreement on the
facilitation of the issuance of short-stay visas in similar terms as the
Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Joint Declaration concerning the United Kingdom and Ireland

The Parties
take note that the present Agreement does not apply to the territory of the
United Kingdom and Ireland.

In such
circumstances, it is desirable that the authorities of the United Kingdom,
Ireland and the Republic of Azerbaijan, conclude bilateral agreements on the
facilitation of the issuance of visas.

Joint Declaration concerning Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein

The Parties
take note of the close relationship between the European Union and Switzerland,
Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway, particularly by virtue of the Agreements of
18 May 1999 and 26 October 2004 concerning the association of these countries
with the implementation, application and development of the Schengen acquis.

In such
circumstances, it is desirable that the authorities of Switzerland, Iceland,
Liechtenstein, and Norway and the Republic of Azerbaijan conclude, without
delay, bilateral agreements on the facilitation of the issuance of short-stay
visas in similar terms as the Agreement between the European Union and the
Republic of Azerbaijan.

Joint Declaration on cooperation on travel documents

The Parties
agree that the Joint Committee established under Article 12 of the Agreement,
when monitoring the implementation of the Agreement, should evaluate the impact
of the level of security of the respective travel documents on the functioning
of the Agreement. To that end, the Parties agree to regularly inform each other
about the measures taken for avoiding the proliferation of travel documents,
developing the technical aspects of travel document security as well as
regarding the personalisation process of the issuance of travel documents.

Joint Declaration on service passports

The Parties,
considering the framework of these negotiations, reaffirm that this Agreement
does not affect the possibility of individual Member States and the Republic of
Azerbaijan to conclude bilateral agreements providing for the exemption from
the visa requirements of holders of service passports.

***

[1]               OJ C [...], [...], p. [...].

[2]               OJ C [...], [...], p. [...].

[3]               OJ L 161, 20.6.2008, p. 30.

[4]               OJ L385, 29.12.2004, p.1.