amending Regulation (EC) No 539/2001 listing the third countries whose nationals must be in possession of visas when crossing the external borders and those whose nationals are exempt from that requirement

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

1.CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL

•Reasons for and objectives of the proposal

The EU-Georgia Visa Liberalisation Dialogue was launched in June 2012. In February 2013, the European Commission presented the Georgian Government with an action plan on visa liberalisation (VLAP). The Commission committed itself to proposing visa-free travel for short stays in the European Union to Georgian nationals holding biometric passports as soon as all the benchmarks set in the VLAP have been met by the Georgian Government.

Before the start of the Visa Liberalisation Dialogue, the EU and Georgia had concluded in parallel a Visa Facilitation Agreement and a Readmission Agreement, which entered into force on 1 March 2011. Their full and effective implementation has been an underlying condition for the launch and the continuation of the visa dialogue.

The VLAP is structured around four 'blocks': document security, including biometrics (block I), migration and integrated border management, including asylum (block II), public order and security (block III), and external relations and fundamental rights (block IV). The VLAP sets out a series of precise benchmarks for each of these four 'blocks' of technically relevant issues with a view to adopting a legislative, policy and institutional framework (phase 1) and ensuring its effective and sustainable implementation (phase 2).

Since the launch of the EU-Georgia Visa Liberalisation Dialogue, the Commission has reported to the European Parliament and the Council on Georgia's progress towards fulfilling the benchmarks identified under the four blocks of the VLAP's first and second phases. Progress has been assessed on the basis of on-site evaluations by experts from EU Member States and detailed information provided by Georgia.

On 15 November 2013 the Commission adopted its first progress report on Georgia’s implementation of the VLAP and made several recommendations for completing the first (legislative and planning) phase.

The Commission's second progress report of 29 October 2014 concluded that Georgia had fulfilled the first-phase benchmarks of the VLAP and was ready to be assessed on the second-phase benchmarks. In its conclusions of 17 November 2014, the Council agreed with the Commission’s assessment. The report was accompanied by an assessment of the potential migratory and security impacts of future visa liberalisation for Georgian citizens travelling to the EU.

The Commission adopted the third progress report on Georgia's implementation of the VLAP on 8 May 2015. The report confirmed that Georgia was broadly in line with all the benchmarks set in the four blocks of the VLAP and identified actions that, if taken, would ensure that Georgia fulfills all benchmarks for the second phase of the VLAP.

In its fourth and final progress report, adopted on 18 December 2015, the Commission considered that Georgia had made the necessary progress and had undertaken all the required reforms to ensure the effective and sustainable achievement of the remaining benchmarks. Based on this assessment, and given the outcome of the continuous monitoring and reporting that had been carried out since the launch of the EU-Georgia Visa Liberalisation Dialogue, the Commission confirmed that Georgia had met all the benchmarks set for each of the four blocks of the VLAP's second phase and that it would present, in early 2016, a legislative proposal to amend Regulation (EC) No 539/2001, transferring Georgia to the list of visa-free countries (Annex II).

In addition to reporting on the VLAP, the Commission continued to monitor the implementation of the Visa Facilitation and Readmission Agreements, notably through the Joint Committees established under those agreements. The last meeting to date of both committees was held in Brussels on 13 October 2015. In this context, the Commission noted that implementation of the two agreements was very satisfactory overall.

•Consistency with existing policy provisions in the policy area and other Union policies

Council Regulation (EC) No 539/2001 lists the third countries whose nationals must be in possession of a visa when crossing the external borders of the Member States and those whose nationals are exempt from that requirement. Regulation (EC) No 539/2001 is applied by all Member States – with the exception of Ireland and the United Kingdom – and also by Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. The Regulation is part of the EU's common visa policy for short stays of 90 days in any 180-day period.

Georgia is currently listed in Annex I of Regulation (EC) No 539/2001, i.e. among those countries whose nationals are required to hold a visa when travelling to the territory of EU Member States.

Regulation (EC) No 539/2001 was last amended by Regulation (EU) No 259/2014 when Moldova was transferred to the visa-free list after successfully implementing its VLAP; and by Regulation (EU) No 509/2014 when five Caribbean and eleven Pacific countries, as well as Colombia, Peru and the United Arab Emirates were exempted from the visa requirement – subject to the conclusion of visa waiver agreements between the EU and the respective third countries – following a periodical review of the visa lists.

The criteria which should be taken into account when determining – based on a case-by-case assessment – the third countries whose nationals are subject to, or exempt from, the visa requirement are laid down in Article -1 of Regulation (EC) No 539/2001 (as introduced by Regulation (EU) No 509/2014). They include “illegal immigration, public policy and security, economic benefit, in particular in terms of tourism and foreign trade, and the Union’s external relations with the relevant third countries, including in particular, considerations of human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as the implications of regional coherence and reciprocity”. Particular attention should be paid to the security of travel documents issued by the third countries concerned.

There is no reason to condition the implementation of the visa exemption for Georgian citizens on the conclusion of a visa waiver agreement with the EU, as Georgia has already exempted all EU citizens from the visa requirement for stays of 90 days (within a 180-day period). Should this decision be revoked or should the visa-free regime be abused, the existing reciprocity and suspension mechanisms of Regulation (EC) No 539/2001 would provide sufficient remedies.

2.LEGAL BASIS, SUBSIDIARITY AND PROPORTIONALITY