# EUR-Lex - 52012PC0705 - EN

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# 52012PC0705

**Proposal for a COUNCIL DECISION on the signature of the Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Armenia on the facilitation of the issuance of visas /* COM/2012/0705 final - 2012/0333 (NLE) */**

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

I.            POLITICAL AND LEGAL
FRAMEWORK

In the context of the Eastern Partnership
Summit Declaration of 7 May 2009, the EU and the partner countries stated their
political support towards liberalisation of the visa regime in a secure 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 Armenia on a Visa
Facilitation Agreement.

Following the
authorisation given by the Council on 19 December 2011,
the negotiations with the Republic of Armenia on a
Visa Facilitation Agreement were opened in Yerevan on 27 February 2012. Two
further rounds of negotiations took place on 24 April 2012 in Brussels and on
28 June 2012 in Yerevan. The final text of the Agreement was initialled in
Brussels on 18 October 2012 by the chief negotiators.

By Government decision adopted on 4 October
2012, Armenia decided to exempt all EU citizens, as well as those from the
Schengen associated countries, from the visa obligation as from 10 January
2013.

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 attached proposal
constitutes the legal instrument for the signature of the Agreement. The
Council will decide by qualified majority.

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 Armenian
citizens shall amount to 35 €. This fee will be applied to all Armenian 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 national and regional governments, members of
official delegations participating in government activities, pupils and students,
persons with disabilities, journalists and the technical crew accompanying
them, representatives of civil society and persons invited by Armenian
Community non-profit 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 and students,
participants in scientific, cultural and sporting events, journalists, persons
visiting military and civil burials, representatives of civil society and
participants in Pan-Armenian community non-profit organisations, members of the
professions, drivers conducting international cargo and passenger
transportation services 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
is required;

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

(a)
for members of national and regional governments,
Constitutional and Supreme Court, permanent members of official delegations and
spouses and children visiting citizens of Armenia legally residing in the
Member States or EU citizens residing in the territory of the Member States of
which they are nationals: 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,
representatives of civil society and the Pan-Armenian diaspora non-profit
organisations, 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 2 years and a maximum of 5 years are issued;

–
citizens of Armenia 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 Armenian
citizens 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.

–
An EU Declaration is attached to the Agreement
on documents to be submitted when applying for short-stay visas.

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

–
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

–
decide that the Agreement between the European
Union and the Republic of Armenia on the facilitation of the issuance of visas be
signed on behalf of the Union and authorise the Commission to appoint the
person(s) duly empowered to sign on behalf of the Union.

2012/0333 (NLE)

Proposal for a

COUNCIL DECISION

on the signature of the Agreement between
the European Union and the Republic of Armenia on the facilitation of the
issuance of visas

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the
Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 77(2a), in conjunction with Article 218 (5), thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the
European Commission,

Whereas:

(1)       The Joint Declaration of
the Prague Eastern Partnership Summit of 7 May 2009 stating the political
support towards visa liberalisation and the intention to take gradual steps
towards the visa free travel for their citizens in due course.

(2)       On 19 December 2011 the
Council authorised the Commission to open negotiations with the Republic of
Armenia on an Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Armenia on
the facilitation of the issuance of visas. The negotiations were successfully
concluded by the initialling of the Agreement on 18 October 2012.

(3)       The Agreement should be
signed by the negotiator on behalf of the European Union, subject to its
conclusion at a later date.

(4)       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,
and confirming that the provisions of the Agreement do not apply to the United
Kingdom and Ireland,

(5)       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 and confirming that the
provisions of the Agreement do not apply to Denmark,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

The Commission is authorised to sign, on
behalf of the European Union, the Agreement between the European Union and the
Republic of Armenia on the facilitation of the issuance of visas, and to designate
the persons empowered to proceed to the signature.

The text of the Agreement to be signed is
attached to this Decision.

Article 2

This Decision shall enter into force on the
day of its adoption.

Done at Brussels,

For
the Council

The
President

ANNEX

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

THE EUROPEAN
UNION hereinafter referred to as "the Union”,

And

THE REPUBLIC
OF ARMENIA, hereinafter referred to as Armenia,

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 Armenia,

BEARING IN
MIND the Agreement on Partnership and Cooperation establishing a Partnership
between the Union and its Member States, of the one part, and Armenia, of the
other part, as well as the intention of the Parties to conclude an EU-Armenia
Association Agreement,

HAVING REGARD
to the Joint Declarations of the Prague and Warsaw Eastern Partnership Summits
held respectively on 7 May 2009 and on 30 September 2011 stating the political
support towards visa liberalization of the visa regime in a secure environment,

REAFFIRMING
the intention to take gradual steps towards a visa-free travel regime for their
citizens in due course, provided that conditions for well-managed and secure
mobility are in place,

BEARING IN
MIND that, as from 10 January 2013 all citizens of the Union are exempted from
the visa requirement when travelling to Armenia for a period of time not
exceeding 90 days or transiting through the territory of Armenia,

RECOGNISING
that if Armenia reintroduces visa requirements for the citizens of the Union or
certain categories of them, the same facilitations granted under this Agreement
to the citizens of Armenia would automatically, on the basis of reciprocity,
apply to the citizens of the Union concerned,

BEARING IN
MIND that these visa requirements can only be reintroduced for all citizens of
the Union or certain categories of citizens of the Union,

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

1.         The
purpose of this Agreement is to facilitate, the issuance of visas for an intended
stay of no more than 90 days per period of 180 days to the citizens of Armenia.

2. If Armenia
reintroduces the visa requirements for the citizens of the Union or certain
categories of them, the same facilitations granted under this Agreement to the
citizens of Armenia would automatically, on the basis of reciprocity, apply to
the citizens of the Union concerned,

Article 2

General clause

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

2.         The
national law of Armenia or of the Member States or the 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 Armenia' shall mean any person who holds the citizenship of Armenia in
accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Armenia;

(d) 'visa'
shall mean: an authorisation issued by a Member State 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;

(e) 'legally
residing person' shall mean: a citizen of Armenia 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 Armenia, 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, grandchildren visiting citizens of Armenia 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:

- a written
request from the host person;

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

-a letter
issued by a competent authority of Armenia confirming that the applicant is a
member of its delegation, respectively 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 pupils,
students, post-graduate persons 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, college or
school or student cards or certificates of the courses to be attended;

(d) 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;

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

- a
certificate or other document issued by a professional organisation 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 the technical crew
accompanying the journalist in a professional capacity;

(f) for
participants in international sport events and persons accompanying them in a
professional capacity:

- a written
request from the host organisation, competent authorities, national sport
federations or national Olympic committees of the Member State;

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

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

(h) for
members of the professions participating in inter­national exhibitions,
conferences, symposia, seminars or other similar events:

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

(i) for
representatives of civil society organisations and persons invited by Armenian
community non-profit organisations registered in the Member States when
undertaking trips for the purposes of educational training, seminars,
conferences, including in the framework of exchange programmes or Pan-Armenian
and community support programmes:

- a written
request issued by the host organisation, a confirmation that the person is
representing the civil society organisation or participating in Pan-Armenian or
community support activities and the certificate on establishment of such
organisation from the relevant register issued by a state authority in
accordance with the national legislation;

(j) 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 the activities;

(k) for
drivers conducting international cargo and passenger transportation services to
the territories of the Member States in vehicles registered in Armenia:

-a written
request from the national association (union) of carriers of Armenia providing
for international road transportation, stating the purpose, itinerary, duration
and frequency of the trips;

(l) for
participants of the official exchange programmes organised by twin cities and
other municipal entities:

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

(m) 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. For the
purposes of the present Article the written request 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,
the registration number as required by the national law of the Member State
concerned.

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 shall issue multiple-entry
visas with a term of validity of 5 years to the following categories of
persons:

(a) spouses,
children (including adopted), who are under the age of 21 or are dependent and
parents (including custodians), visiting citizens of Armenia 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;

(b) members of
national and regional governments and of Constitutional and Supreme courts if
they are not exempted from the visa requirement by the present Agreement, in
the exercise of their duties;

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

By way of
derogation, 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 lit. a, the period of validity of the
authorisation for legal residence of citizens of Armenia legally residing in
the European Union,

-in case of
the persons referred to in lit. b, the term of office,

- in the case
of the persons referred to in lit. c, 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 shall issue multiple-entry
visas with the term of validity of one year to the following categories of
persons, 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) members of
official delegations who, following an official invitation addressed to
Armenia, shall participate regularly in meetings, consul­tations, negotiations
or exchange programmes, as well as in events held in the territory of the
Member States by intergovernmental organisations;

(b) representatives
of civil society organisations and persons invited by Armenian community
non-profit organisations registered in the Member States when undertaking trips
to the Member States for the purposes of educational training, seminars,
conferences, including in the framework of exchange programmes or Pan-Armenian
and community support programmes;

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

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

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

(f)
participants of the official exchange programmes organised by twin cities and
other municipal entities;

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

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

(i) business
people and representatives of business organisations who regularly travel to the
Member States;

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

(k) drivers
conducting international cargo and passenger transportation services to the
territories of the Member States in vehicles registered in Armenia.

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 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.

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) pensioners;

(b) children
under the age of 12;

(c) members of
national and regional governments and of Constitutional and Supreme courts, in
case they are not exempted from the visa requirement by this Agreement;

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

(e) close
relatives – spouse, children (including adopted), parents (including
custodians), grandparents or grandchildren – of citizens of Armenia 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;

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

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

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

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

(j) representatives
of civil society organisations and persons invited by Armenian community
non-profit organisations registered in the Member States when undertaking trips
for the purposes of educational training, seminars, conferences, including in
the framework of exchange programmes or Pan-Armenian and community support
programmes;

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

(l) 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.

3. If a Member
State 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 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 Armenian legislation.

Article 7

Length of procedures for processing visa applications

1.         Diplomatic
missions and consular posts of the Member States 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.

4.         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. 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 Union and of Armenia who
have lost their identity documents, or from whom these documents have been
stolen while staying in the territory of Armenia or the Member States, may
leave the territory of Armenia 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 Armenia without any visa
or other authorisation.

Article 9

Extension of visa in exceptional circumstances

Citizens of
Armenia who are not able to leave the territory of the Member States by the
time stated in their visas for reasons of force majeure
or humanitarian reasons shall have the term of their visas extended free of charge in accordance
with the legislation applied by the receiving Member State for the period
required for their return to the State of their residence.

Article 10

Diplomatic passports

1.         Citizens
of Armenia who are holders of valid diplomatic passports may enter, leave and
transit through the territories of the Member States without visas.

2.         Persons
mentioned in paragraph 1 may stay without visas in 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 Member
States and subject to EU rules on visas with limited territorial validity,
citizens of Armenian shall be entitled to travel within the territory of the
Member States on equal basis with European Union citizens.

Article 12

Joint Committee for management of the Agreement

The Parties
shall set up a Joint Committee of experts (hereinafter referred to as “the
Committee”), composed by representatives of the Union and of Armenia. The Union
shall be represented by the 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 Armenia

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 Armenia, in so far 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 Armenia 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 in the Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian,
Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian,
Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish and
Armenian languages, each of these texts being equally authentic.

ANNEX

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[1]
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
Armenia 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[2].

European Union Declaration on documents to be submitted when
applying for short stay visas

The European
Union will intensify efforts and endeavour to draw up before the entry into
force of the EU-Armenia Visa Facilitation Agreement a list of minimum
requirements in order to ensure that Armenian applicants are given coherent and
uniform basic information, in accordance with Article 47 (1)(a) of the Visa
Code, and are required to submit, in principle, the same supporting documents.

The
information mentioned above is to be disseminated widely (on the information
board of consulates, in leaflets, on websites, etc.).

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 appropriate that the authorities of Denmark and of Armenia 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 Armenia.

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 appropriate that the authorities of the United Kingdom, Ireland
and Armenia, 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 appropriate that the
authorities of Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway and Armenia
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 Armenia.

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.

***

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

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