# EUR-Lex - 52012PC0268 - EN

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# 52012PC0268

**Proposal for a COUNCIL DECISION concerning the conclusion of the Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Moldova amending the Agreement between the European Community and the Republic of Moldova on the facilitation of the issuance of visas /* COM/2012/0268 final - 2012/0140 (NLE) */**

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

I.            POLITICAL AND LEGAL
FRAMEWORK

The Visa Facilitation Agreement
between the European Community and the Republic of Moldova[1] has been in force since
1 January 2008.

Article 12 of the Visa
Facilitation Agreement establishes a Joint Committee tasked inter alia
with monitoring the implementation of the Agreement and suggesting amendments
and additions thereto. At its 5th meeting on 27 May 2010, the Joint
Committee made a number of suggestions for amendments and additions to the
Agreement.

On that basis the
Commission presented on 29 October 2010 a
recommendation to the Council in order to authorise the Commission to open
negotiations with the Republic of Moldova on an Agreement amending the Visa
Facilitation Agreement.

Following the authorisation
given by the Council on 11 April 2011, the negotiations
with the Republic of Moldova on an Agreement amending
the Visa Facilitation Agreement were opened on 13 May 2011 in Brussels.
Three further negotiation rounds took place on 29 August 2011 in Chisinau and
on 16 November 2011 and 14 December 2011 in Brussels.

The draft amending Agreement
foresees inter alia a visa waiver for Moldovan citizens who are holders of
biometric service passports. The negotiators expressed their common
understanding that this visa waiver will be used in good faith. Given the
importance of this for the European Union, a letter has been sent on behalf of
the European Union to the Republic of Moldova on 28 February 2012 confirming
that the European Union may invoke a partial suspension of the amended Agreement
and in particular the provision providing the visa waiver for holders of
biometric service passports, in accordance with the suspension clause of the amended
Agreement, if this visa waiver would be misused by the Republic of Moldova
or would lead to a threat to public security. The letter (without annex) is
attached to this explanatory memorandum. This approach was endorsed by Member
States at the Visa Working Party on 10 January 2012. The Republic of Moldova
agreed to this approach by email of 13 February 2012.

The final text of the
amending Agreement was initialled on 22 March 2012 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 amending Agreement is Article 77(2)(a), in
conjunction with Article 218 of the TFEU.

The Commission signed the amending Agreement
on ... In accordance with Art. 218(6)(a) of the TFEU the European Parliament's
consent for the conclusion of the amending 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 amending Agreement is acceptable to the Union.

The final content of it can be summarised
as follows:

-           simplified requirements for documents to be presented
regarding the purpose of the journey for the following categories of
applicants:

(a)        drivers
conducting international cargo and passenger transportation services and
journalists: have been reviewed.

(b)        members
of the technical crew accompanying journalists, close relatives of EU citizens
residing in the territory of the Member State of which they are nationals, and
participants in official EU cross-border cooperation programmes: have been
introduced;

-           clarification of the provisions
on the period of validity of multiple-entry visas for the following categories
of applicants:

(a)        the categories listed in Article
5(1) of the Visa Facilitation Agreement
as well as spouses, children and parents visiting
citizens of the European Union residing in the territory of the Member State of
which they are nationals, and the technical crew accompanying journalists in a
professional capacity:

in principle, multiple-entry visas valid
for five years shall be issued. Multiple-entry visas with a shorter period of
validity shall only be issued where the expiry date of the travel document
requires this or where the need or the intention to travel frequently or
regularly is manifestly limited to a shorter period;

(b)        the categories listed in Article
5(2) of the Visa Facilitation Agreement
and participants in official EU cross-border cooperation
programmes:

in principle, multiple-entry visas valid
for one year shall be issued. Multiple-entry visas with a shorter period of
validity shall only be issued where the expiry date of the travel document
requires this or where the need or the intention to travel frequently or
regularly is manifestly limited to a shorter period;

-           a full waiving of the visa fee for
the following additional categories of applicants: close relatives of citizens
of the European Union residing in the territory of the Member State of which
they are nationals, the technical crew accompanying journalists in a
professional capacity, participants aged 25 years or less in seminars,
conferences, sports, cultural or educational events, organised by non-profit
organisations, representatives of civil society organisations undertaking trips
for the purposes of educational training, seminars, conferences, participants
in official EU cross-border cooperation programmes;

-           the possibility for an external
service provider, with whom a Member State cooperates in view of issuing a visa,
to charge a service fee of up to EUR 30, while maintaining the possibility of
all applicants to lodge their applications directly at a consulate; on the
specific request of the Republic of Moldova, a European Union Declaration is
attached to the amending Agreement on the European Union's commitment to outsource
the reception of visa applications only as a last resort;

-           the possibility to waive the
requirement to appear in person when lodging an application;

-           the exemption from the visa
requirement for short stays for the citizens of the Republic of Moldova who are
holders of biometric service passports. The amending Agreement clarifies that
this does not affect the applicability of provisions of existing bilateral
Agreements or arrangements between individual Member States and the Republic of
Moldova on the exemption of the holders of non-biometric service passports from
the visa requirement for short stays;

-           a Joint Declaration is attached
to the amending Agreement on the cooperation on travel documents and regular
exchange of information on document security;

-           replying to a specific request
formulated by the Republic of Moldova, a European Union Declaration is attached
to the amending Agreement on documents to be submitted when applying for
short-stay;

-           replying to a specific request
formulated by the Republic of Moldova, a European Union Declaration is attached
to the amending Agreement on facilitations for family members not covered by
the legally binging provisions of the Agreement;

-           the specific situations of
Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom are reflected in the preamble;

-           the association of Switzerland
and Liechtenstein to the implementation, application and development of the
Schengen acquis is reflected in a Joint Declaration to the amending 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 Moldova amending the Agreement between the
European Community and the Republic of Moldova on the facilitation of the
issuance of visas.

2012/0140 (NLE)

Proposal for a

COUNCIL DECISION

concerning the conclusion of the Agreement
between the European Union and the Republic of Moldova amending the Agreement
between the European Community and the Republic of Moldova 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(2a), 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[2],

Whereas:

(1)       In
accordance with Council Decision 2012/XXX of [...][3], the Agreement between the
European Union and the Republic of Moldova amending the
Agreement between the European Community and the Republic of Moldova on the
facilitation of the issuance of visas was signed by the
Commission on [ ], subject to its conclusion at a later date.

(2)       The
Agreement should be concluded.

(3)       In accordance with the Protocol
on the Schengen acquis integrated into the framework of the European
Union and the Protocol on the position of the United Kingdom and Ireland in
respect of the area of freedom, security and justice, annexed to the Treaty on
European Union and to 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,

(4)       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 this Agreement do not apply to Denmark,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

The Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Moldova amending the Agreement between the European
Community and the Republic of Moldova on the facilitation of the issuance of
visas is hereby concluded.

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 2 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 Moldova amending the Agreement between the European Community and
the Republic of Moldova on the facilitation of the issuance of visas

THE EUROPEAN UNION,

of the one part, and

THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA,

of the other part,

hereinafter referred to as ‘the Parties’,

HAVING REGARD to the Agreement between the
European Community and the Republic of Moldova on the facilitation of the
issuance of visas, which entered into force on 1 January 2008,

DESIRING to further facilitate people to
people contacts,

RECOGNISING the importance of the
introduction of a visa free travel regime for the citizens of the Republic of
Moldova in due course, provided that the conditions for well-managed and secure
mobility are in place,

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 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 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 to the Treaty
on the Functioning of the European Union and confirming that the provisions of
this Agreement do not apply to Denmark,

HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

The Agreement between the European
Community and the Republic of Moldova on the facilitation of the issuance of
visas, hereinafter referred to as 'the Agreement', shall be amended in
accordance with the provisions of this Article:

[Title of the Agreement]

(1)
In the title, the word "Community"
shall be replaced by the words "European Union".

[Article 3 of the Agreement

Definitions]

(2)
In Article 3 point (e), the word
"Community" shall be replaced by the words "European
Union".

[Article 4 of the Agreement

Documentary evidence regarding the
purpose of the journey]

(3)
Article 4 paragraph 1 shall be amended as
follows:

(a)        point (d) shall be replaced by
the following:

"(d) for drivers conducting
international cargo and passenger transportation services to the territories of
the Member States in vehicles registered in the Republic of Moldova:

— a written request from the national
association of carriers of the Republic of Moldova providing for international
road transportation, stating the purpose, itinerary, duration and frequency of
the trips;"

(b)        point (f) shall be replaced by
the following:

"(f) for journalists and the technical
crew accompanying them in a professional capacity:

— 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 the person is a member of the
technical crew accompanying the journalist in a professional capacity;"

(c)        point (k) shall be replaced by
the following:

"(k) for close relatives – spouse,
children (including adopted), parents (including custodians), grandparents and
grandchildren – visiting citizens of the Republic of Moldova 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:

— a written request from the host
person;"

(d)        the following point (p) shall be
inserted:

"(p) for participants in official EU
cross-border cooperation programmes, such as under the European Neighbourhood
and Partnership Instrument (ENPI):

— a written request by the host
organisation."

[Article 5 of the Agreement

Issuance of multiple-entry visas]

(4)
Article 5 paragraphs 1 to 3 shall be replaced by
the following:

"1. Diplomatic missions and consular
posts of the Member States shall issue multiple-entry visas with a term of
validity of five years to the following categories of persons:

(a) members of national and regional
Governments and Parliaments, Constitutional Court and Supreme Court if they are
not exempted from the visa requirement by this Agreement, in the exercise of
their duties;

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

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

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

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

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
lit. a, the term of office,

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

- in the case of the persons referred to in
lit. c, the period of validity of the authorisation for legal residence of
citizens of the Republic of Moldova legally residing in the European Union,

- in the case of the persons referred to in
lit. d, the term of validity of the status as a representative of the business
organisation or the work contract, or

- in the case of the persons referred to in
lit. e, the work contract

is less than five years.

2. Diplomatic missions and consular posts
of the Member States shall issue multiple-entry visas with a 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 the Republic of Moldova, are to
participate regularly in meetings, consultations, negotiations or exchange
programs, as well as in events held in the territory of the Member States by
intergovernmental organisations;

(b) representatives of civil society
organisations travelling regularly to Member States for the purposes of
educational training, seminars, conferences, including in the framework of
exchange 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) drivers conducting international cargo
and passenger transportation services to the territories of the Member States
in vehicles registered in the Republic of Moldova;

(e) members of train, refrigerator and
locomotive crews in international trains travelling to the territories of the
Member States;

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

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

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

(i) participants in official exchange
programmes organised by twin cities or other localities;

(j) participants in official EU
cross-border cooperation programmes, such as under the European Neighbourhood
and Partnership Instrument (ENPI).

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 a 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, provided that during the previous two 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."

[Article 6 of the Agreement

Fees for processing visa applications]

(5)
Article 6 shall be amended as follows:

(a)        paragraph 2 shall be amended as
follows:

(i)         in the first sentence, the
opening words shall be replaced by the following:

"4. Without prejudice to paragraph 4
fees for processing the visa application are waived for the following
categories of persons:"

(ii)        in point (a), the following
words shall be inserted:

"or citizens of the European Union
residing in the territory of the Member State of which they are nationals"

(iii)       in point (j), the following
words shall be inserted:

"and the technical crew accompanying
them in a professional capacity"

(iv)       the following points (p) to (r)
shall be inserted:

"(p) participants aged 25 years or less
in seminars, conferences, sports, cultural or educational events, organised by
non profit organisations;

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

(r) participants in official EU
cross-border cooperation programmes, such as under the European Neighbourhood
and Partnership Instrument (ENPI)."

(v)        the following sentence shall be
inserted:

"The first sentence shall apply also
where the purpose of the journey is transit."

(c)        the following paragraph shall be
inserted:

"4. 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. The
external service provider shall conduct its operations in accordance with the
Visa Code and in full respect of Moldovan legislation."

[Article 6 bis

Lodging of an application without the
presence of the applicant]

(6)
The following Article 6 bis shall be
inserted:

"Article 6 bis

Lodging of an application without the
presence of the applicant

Member States consulates may waive the
requirement to appear in person, when the applicant is known to them for his
integrity and reliability, unless the applicant is required to appear in person
for the collection of biometric identifiers."

[Article 8 of the Agreement

Departure in the case of lost or
stolen documents]

(7)
Article 8 shall be replaced by the following:

"Article 8

Departure in the case of lost or
stolen documents

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

[Article 10 of the Agreement

Diplomatic passports]

(8)
Article 10 shall be amended as follows:

(a)        the title shall be replaced by
the following:

" Diplomatic and service
passports"

(b)        paragraph 2 shall be renumbered
3 and shall be replaced by the following:

"3. Persons mentioned in paragraphs 1
and 2 may stay in the territories of the Member States for a period not
exceeding 90 days per period of 180 days."

(c)        the following new paragraph 2
shall be inserted:

"2. Citizens of the Republic of Moldova,
holders of valid biometric service passports can enter, leave and transit
through the territories of the Member States without visas."

[Article 12

Joint Committee for management of the
Agreement]

(9)
In Article 12 paragraph 1, the word
"Community" shall be replaced by the words "European
Union".

[Article 13 of the Agreement

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

(10)
Article 13 shall be amended as follows:

(a)        the existing paragraph shall be
numbered as paragraph 1;

(b) the following paragraph shall be
inserted:

"2. The provisions of bilateral
Agreements or arrangements between individual Member States and the Republic of
Moldova concluded before the entry into force of this Agreement providing for
the exemption of the holders of non-biometric service passports from the visa
requirement shall continue to apply without prejudice to the right of the
Member States concerned or the Republic of Moldova to denounce or suspend these
bilateral agreements or arrangements."

[Article 14

Reciprocity clause]

(11)
In Article 14, the following first sentence
shall be inserted:

"The Republic of Moldova may only
reintroduce the visa requirement for citizens or certain categories of citizens
of all EU Member States and not for citizens or certain categories of citizens
of individual Member States."

Article 2

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 last Party notifies the other that the procedures referred to
above have been completed.

Done at XXX, on XXX 2012 in duplicate in
the official languages of the
Parties, each of these texts being equally authentic.

For the European Union

For the Republic of Moldova

JOINT
DECLARATION ON COOPERATION ON TRAVEL DOCUMENTS

The Parties agree that the Joint Committee
established pursuant to 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.

EUROPEAN
UNION DECLARATION ON DOCUMENTS TO BE SUBMITTED WHEN APPLYING FOR SHORT-STAY
VISAS

The European Union will establish a
harmonised list of supporting documents, in accordance with Article 48
paragraph 1 lit. a of the Visa Code, in order to ensure that applicants from
the Republic of Moldova are required to submit, in principle, the same
supporting documents. The European Union will inform the Republic of Moldova in
the Committee, when such a list has been established. The European Union will
also inform the citizens of the Republic of Moldova in accordance with Article
47 paragraph 1 lit. a of the Visa Code.

EUROPEAN
UNION DECLARATION ON COOPERATION WITH EXTERNAL SERVICE PROVIDERS

The European Union commits itself to
outsource the reception of visa applications only as a last resort,
when there are particular circumstances or reasons relating to the local
situation, such as where the high number of applicants does not allow the
collection of applications and of data to be organised in a timely manner and
in decent conditions; or it is not possible to ensure a good territorial
coverage of the third country concerned in any other way; and where other forms
of cooperation prove not to be appropriate for the Member State concerned.

EUROPEAN
UNION DECLARATION ON FACILITATIONS FOR FAMILY MEMBERS

The European Union takes note of the
suggestion of the Republic of Moldova to give a wider definition to the notion
of family members that should benefit from visa facilitation as well as of the
importance that the Republic of Moldova attaches to the simplification of
movement of this category of persons.

In order to ease the mobility of an
extended number of persons which have family links (in particular sisters and
brothers and their children) with citizens of the Republic of Moldova legally
residing in the territories of Member States or with citizens of the European
Union residing in the territory of the Member State of which they are
nationals, the European Union invites the Member States’ consular offices to
make full use of the existing possibilities in the Visa Code for facilitating
the issuance of visas to this category of persons, including in particular, the
simplification of documentary evidence requested for the applicants, exemptions
from handling fees and, where appropriate, the issuing of multiple-entry visas.

JOINT
DECLARATION CONCERNING SWITZERLAND AND LIECHTENSTEIN

The Parties take note of the close
relationship between the Union and Switzerland and Liechtenstein, particularly
by virtue of the Agreement of 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 and Liechtenstein and the Republic of Moldova
conclude, without delay, bilateral agreements on the facilitation of the
issuance of short-stay visas in similar terms as the amended Agreement.

[1]               Agreement between the European
Community and the Republic of Moldova on the facilitation of the issuance of
visas, OJ L 334/169, 19.12.2007.

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

[3]               OJ C [...], [...], p. [...].