INTERMEDIATE REPORT ON VISA ISSUES (ROMANIA)

(presented by the Commission)

On 1st December 2000, the Justice and Home Affairs Council reached a political agreement on the Commission's proposal for a Council Regulation 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. According to the agreement, Romania will be on the list of countries whose nationals are exempted from the visa obligation. However this exemption will not enter into force until the Council has decided so at a later stage on the basis of a report from the Commission.

The Council has invited the Commission to submit not later than 30 June 2001 such a report on what commitments Romania is prepared to take on illegal immigration and illegal residence including the repatriation of persons from Romania who are illegally resident in Member States of the European Union. The report should be accompanied by any useful recommendations. However, in order to reach a position on these commitments at the earliest possible date, a first report has been requested by the Council from the Commission before 30 January 2001.

This first intermediate report aims to focus on:

- Border controls

- Visa policy

- Travel document safety

- Readmission agreements.

It is based on information gathered by the Commission in the pre-accession context and most notably on the observations submitted by Romania on 15 January 2001 in response to a request made by the Commission 18 December 2000. The Commission keeps the documentation received from Romania available to Member States.

1. Border control

1.1. Institution building

A unified Romanian Border Police was set up in 1999 with the General Inspectorate of the Border Police at its head. It replaced the National Headquarters of the Border Guards and the Border Police Directorate and has jurisdiction over the whole state borders. It is also the highest command of the Coast Guard. This measure was completed by an Action Plan drawn up at the level of the General Inspectorate of Border Police, containing measures for the modernisation, development and functioning of this institution in the period 2000-2004 and up to 2008. The Plan contains the following chapters: legislative modernisation, institutional building, management of the human resources and logistics. As a consequence, a reform of the regional commands of the Border Police entered into force on 1st July 2000. It eliminated one decision level, established a single level of regional commands and achieved a redistribution of staff in order to devote it to more operative functions. A part of the border control strategy is also to strengthen the operational capacity of the Border Police through procurement of modern equipment.

In the legislative field, the drafts of two new laws were drawn up in 2000, one concerning the structure and function of the Romanian Border Police, the other containing provisions concerning the regime of the state borders. These drafts are on the priority list of the new elected Parliament.

The professionalisation of the Border Police is ongoing and the process of replacing conscripts by contracted sergeants will be completed within 2002. The total staff of the Border Police is at present 23,000. The organisational reforms will be followed by improved training of the personnel. New training methodologies will be developed which are adapted to the new organisation. A twinning project with Member States, which will start to be implemented in the first half of 2001, will provide assistance with the development of a training strategy and modernisation of the training institutions. Within this project the staff will be trained in areas such as modern human management methods, processing and gathering of information relevant for border controls and modern methods for controlling travel documents. The continuation of the new training methodologies will be secured by the training of a number of trainers. Preventing and combating corruption in the Border Police is another major issue the Romanian authorities are dealing with. Pursuant to the provisions of the newly adopted law on preventing and combating corruption, appropriate measures are being taken like a new internal regulation, preventive and ad-hoc controls carried out at all Border Police structures by senior personnel or by specialised units from the Ministry of Interior, publication of cases of corruption, immediate dismissal from the Border Police of all persons committing acts of corruption followed by legal action against such individuals. In the field of border co-operation, bilateral agreements have been concluded with neighbouring states to adopt joint measures to fight corruption at border checkpoints.

1.2. Investment programmes and technical equipment

The current situation of technical equipment that is relevant for the purpose of this report can be described as follows. There is a database with information on all types of travel documents in which persons and means of transport checked at the borders are registered. This database is available at all border checkpoints and it is also equipped with optical reading devices. A tender procedure has been launched for equipment to a value of 9,3 MEUR. This equipment is included in the 1999 and 2000 Justice and Home Affairs projects financed under Romania's national Phare programmes (which provided a total support worth 33 MEUR). These programmes are mainly focused on strengthening border controls at the borders with Moldova and South Ukraine. The Ministry of Interior is aware of that further investments in equipment are needed (there is for example a need to equip further border posts with video-spectral devices for detecting forged documents). Delayed implementation of investment programmes and lack of equipment are consequences of insufficient financial resources and the time required for drafting technical specifications and terms of reference, as well as tendering and contracting.

1.3. Legal provisions and statistics related to border crossing

Law 56/1992 concerning the Romanian state borders, modified and supplemented by Law 98/2000 contains definitions for legal and illegal border crossing. Non-observance of the norms concerning border control and the state border regime may be punished with criminal sanctions (imprisonment) or administrative fines, the amount of which is established according to the seriousness of the offence. According to article 6 of this law, "legal crossing of the Romanian state border by persons, transport means, goods and other merchandise is done through the Border Check Points, open to international traffic. Legal crossing of the Romanian state border can also be done through other places, under conditions established by Agreements and Conventions between Romania and neighbouring countries((. According to article 69 of the same law, "entering or exiting the country by fraudulently crossings of the border is considered as an infringement and punishable by 3 months to 2 years imprisonment((. The penalties are the same for both Romanian and foreign nationals.

According to the working methodology of the Border Police, both foreign and Romanian passports are stamped on entry and exit, and all Romanian and foreign nationals entering or leaving the country are registered in a database. In case of persons who infringe the legal norms concerning entry in the country, the Romanian Border Police stamps the passports with a special stamp, refusing their admission for a period of 6 months to 1 year, depending on the seriousness of the infringement. As an exception, the bilateral agreement concluded between Romania and Moldova concerning the reciprocal travels of their own citizens provides that nationals of both states may travel between both states on identity cards, but the above-mentioned agreement will be repealed with effect from 1st July 2001. From that time, Moldavian nationals will be required to carry passports to enter Romania.

. In the period 1998-2000, 135,271 criminal offences to the state border and customs regulations were committed by Romanian and foreign citizens. Of these breaches, 73,893 were committed or attempted illegal border crossings, most of them at border points (about 93,5%).

In 1998-2000, 10,524 foreign citizens were forbidden to exit Romania Of these, 2,333 had as their destination EU Member States. Most of them were from Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Turkey, and China. The reasons for preventing onward travel were irregularities in travel documents, non-observance of the legal norms concerning the Customs regime, use of false or forged passports, false or forged visas, or hiding in means of transport.

Between 1998 and 2000, 27,409 Romanian citizens were forbidden to exit Romania. This figure includes persons listed as being under criminal investigation, or on trial or wanted for other offences (1,069 persons), people using false passports (1,224 persons), people hidden in means of transport (357 persons) or cases of irregularities in travel documents (4,706 persons). Thus, specific reasons have been given for in total 7,356 cases; there is no information available on what reasons have been used in the remaining cases.

1.4. International transit in Romanian airports

The procedure applied to foreign nationals () in transit at Bucharest Otopeni Airport as well as at other international airports in Romania is based on a provision in the law on the state borders. It stipulates that passengers in transit are not checked for travel documents if they do not leave the airport. The law foresees that they are given boarding cards by the competent authorities of the Romanian airline companies, for their onward flights. As an exception, nationals from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, Iraq, Ghana, Nigeria, Somalia, Sri-Lanka, Democratic Republic of Congo, transiting through Romanian international airports must get transit visas from Romanian diplomatic missions and consular offices abroad before they travel.

According to the law on the state borders, in case of force majeure, if an international air carrier cannot continue its flight, and if the transit passengers do not have immediate connections, "they are permitted, on request, to go to town, until the departure of the first available flight, or to cross Romanian territory by other means of transport, using the transit visa issued by the Border Check Point or by the territorial passport units".

In practice, these provisions have been amended, however, through a co-operation Protocol between the General Inspectorate of the Border Police and the National Company for International Air Transport "TAROM S.A.". According to this Protocol and on the request of TAROM representatives, the border police checks the validity of the travel documents and visas in particular of nationals from countries having a high potential of migration and intention to reach the EU Member States.

2. Visa policy

2.1. Countries submitted to visa requirement

As of 1st January 2001 the Romanian list of countries whose citizens need a visa to enter Romania includes 156 countries (while 35 countries, including the EU Member States, are on the list of countries whose citizens do not need a visa to enter Romania), 86 countries which have a visa obligation for their citizens and whose nationals display high migration tendencies are subject to a restrictive visa regime, the entry on Romanian territory being granted only if the citizens from these countries have a certified invitation and a bank guarantee at the disposal of the Romanian authorities to be used in the case of repatriation. Visas are issued only after the authenticity of the invitations is confirmed.

Citizens from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyizstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan are obliged to have a certified invitation but do not need a bank guarantee.

The countries whose citizens are required to be in possession of a visa to enter the EU Member States but who are not submitted to this requirement by Romania are: Bosnia -Herzegovina, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, FYROM, Turkey, Russia, Ukraine and Moldova. Romania has approached Ukraine and Russia with a view to introducing the visa obligation for bearers of ordinary tourist passports. In relations with the Republic of Moldova, a first step will be the obligation, starting 1 July 2001, to use passports for crossing the border. According to the Romanian authorities, the introduction of visas for Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, FYROM and Turkey is being considered in connection with the development of the relations between the EU and those countries.

2.2. Safety measures in procedures

Since 1st January 2000 and as a general rule, visas can only be obtained at Romanian diplomatic missions and consular offices. The application of this rule was postponed for EU citizens and citizens of a number of other countries. With effect from 1st January 2001, Romania has decided unilaterally to lift the visa requirement for EU nationals. From the same date visas can only be obtained at border points by citizens who do not have an obligation to have a visa to enter EU Member States. Since the main rule now is that visas can not be obtained at border posts, the Romanian authorities have more time to check the visa applications. The new rules are in line with the principles applied by the EU Member States. In addition, diplomatic missions and consular offices of Romania grant visas only on the basis of the principle of territorial responsibility. According to this principle visas are granted only for nationals of the accrediting country and only after consulting the list of the persons for whom entry to Romania is prohibited. For applications lodged by nationals of third countries, prior approval of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Romania is required. From 1 January 2001, a standard visa application form has been introduced allowing to track of all applications that have been granted as well as those that have been refused.

A project has been designed for the creation of an on-line data-communication system between diplomatic missions and consular offices, border checkpoints and central authorities with responsibilities in visa matters (Ministry of Interior, Ministry for Foreign Affairs). The initial phase of this project which is financed under the Phare 2000 border program and is due to start during the first half of 2001, is expected to cover the diplomatic missions and consular offices in 10 foreign countries. The network will subsequently be extended to include all diplomatic missions and consular offices.

3. Travel document safety

3.1. Romanian passports

At present Romanian passports are manufactured with a safety-proof technique, which complies with international specifications for machine-readable passports. However, these passports do not fully comply with EU standards and have to be exchanged. Negotiations are ongoing with passport manufacturers for the printing of new passports. It has been decided that the passports in use now will be valid till they expire and that the entire exchange process would be completed by the deadline indicated by the EU Council (01.04.2004). There are currently 4,200.000 tourist passports in circulation. A draft Government Ordinance has still to be approved in order to start the process of exchanging travel documents. The exchange process is expected to start in the second quarter of 2001.

3.2. Issuing procedure of Romanian identity cards and travel documents

Romanian passports are issued through a decentralised computerised system at county level. There are 41 centres for issuing passports, one for each county. At central level there is a national data base which contains information on issued passports and their owners. The responsible authority for issuing passports is the Passport Directorate of the Ministry of Interior.

Romanian identity documents are issued by the Person Data Recording County Offices which are responsible for the registration of the place of domicile and the residence of each person. These documents are issued on the basis of an application form and of official documents like birth certificates, which, legally proves the name, marital status, Romanian citizenship, domicile, and if appropriate military status of the applicants. Romanian diplomatic missions and consular offices abroad do not issue identity cards or standard passports. Diplomatic missions and consular offices are only entitled to issue "Consular passports". Such documents are issued to Romanian citizens who do not have a valid travel document because it has expired during their stay abroad or in the case they have lost their passport or it has been stolen.

The stock of blank passports (not personalised passports) is in the Passport Directorate headquarters. There is a computerised record of blank passports. The delivery of blank passports to the counties is made through the Post Office of the Ministry of Interior. Information on such deliveries and the serial numbers of the delivered passports is introduced in the computerised system. The entire issuing and managing process is made through the computerised system. Since the present system was introduced in1994 there have not been any cases of stolen or lost blank passports. There are no blank identity cards due to the fact that they are made with a computerised technique, using as raw material special pliant paper and plastic thin paper for lamination. Besides the normal identity cards, there are also provisional ID cards. These provisional identity cards are typed in special printing units, on filigree paper, using security elements, by series, in packages of 25 files, and their record is kept both on series and issuing units. They are stored by specially appointed personnel and in highly secure places.

3.3. Stolen documents

The national database of issued passports contains information regarding lost or stolen passports and can be used on-line by the General Inspectorate of the Border Police and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. There is no communication system yet at border police checkpoints for on-line access to the central databases, and part of the IT equipment currently available in some of the border checkpoint is not appropriate for on-line access. There is a pilot project financed by the Phare 2000 programme which will give the border posts on parts of the North-East border on-line access to central databases.

Romanian border authorities practice supplementary control of travel documents for passengers travelling to EU Member States when they are boarding aircraft. There is an exchange of data with German and French liaison officers in Romania, especially on the networks that are trafficking blank passports and visas stolen from Schengen countries. This kind of co-operation and exchanges of information may be extended to cover stolen or lost Romanian passports and identity cards. The Romanian Penal Code has different provisions concerning document forgery. The sanctions differ, depending on the seriousness of the action, its social danger and potential repercussions. The Romanian legislation makes no distinction between forged or false Romanian and foreign documents.

4. Migration policy

Romania does not have a definitive legislative framework governing illegal immigration, as long as the 1969 Aliens Law has not been replaced. The Romanian Government is currently taking steps to accelerate the adoption of the Draft Aliens Law by Parliament in the first quarter of 2001. As regards migration by Romanian nationals, UNHCR statistics show that Romania, compared to other Candidate Countries, has a high number of asylum seekers. In the period January - September 2000 there were 6,960 applications submitted by Romanian asylum seekers in Europe and North America.

4.1. Legal provisions Romanian citizenship

Member States have claimed that Romanian consulates accept that their own nationals give up their citizenship, without controlling that they have received citizenship in another country. If there were such a practice it would create difficulties in the repatriation of Romanian illegal immigrants. However, Romanian consular offices have no legal authority to approve the renunciation of Romanian citizenship. According to Romanian legislation, a Commission within the Ministry of Justice has the responsibility to examine requests for giving up Romanian citizenship. After the examination of such requests, the Commission draws up a report to be forwarded to the Minister of Justice. This report always mentions whether the legal conditions for granting or revoking the Romanian citizenship are met or not. The request of a person who applies to give up Romanian citizenship is approved under the condition that the person is not accused or indicted in a penal case or does not have to serve a penal sentence and under the condition that the person is not legally prosecuted for debts. In addition to this, the person must have been granted another citizenship or must have applied for another citizenship and has been given proper assurances that he/she will be granted that citizenship.

There are restrictions for Romanians to leave the country in the case they are convicted for crimes committed abroad or in Romania. This applies also to Romanians who have been expelled pursuant to a readmission agreement. According to Romanian legislation, their travel documents are withdrawn for a maximum period of 12 months, but there is a proposal to increase this period to 3 years.

4.2. Carriers liability

According to provisions in the law on the Romanian state border "bringing in the Romanian territory by air, sea or road carriers of foreign citizens not possessing a travel document or having counterfeited visas or documents or being hidden in the means of transportation" is punishable with a fine from 3 million to 15 million lei. It is now under consideration to increase the fine. The draft Aliens Law to be adopted in the first quarter of 2001, will establish carriers liability for bringing to Romania foreigners who do not fulfil the conditions regarding travel documents and visas.

4.3. Expulsion of aliens

Foreigners who do not abide by the legal provisions of the Aliens Law are returned to the country of origin, departure or destination. Expulsion is the responsibility of the Ministry of Interior. Until the expulsion can be carried out, the foreigner is accommodated in special places belonging to the Ministry of Interior. The expulsion of a foreigner who has committed a crime is determined according to circumstances stipulated by the Penal Code and Procedural Code.

Romania is a transit country for illegal immigration to the EU. Although in recent years around 40,000 aliens per year have been denied entry in Romania, it is estimated that 40,000 aliens cross the border illegally with the purpose of reaching the EU; according to the Romanian authorities, 20,000 - 30,000 aliens are temporarily staying in Romania waiting for an opportunity to move westwards. Most of the illegal immigrants come from Asia and Africa. The most common entry point is the border with Moldova.

5. Readmission agreements and international co-operation

5.1. Countries involved in readmission agreements with Romania

Romania has concluded readmission agreements with all Member States, except the United Kingdom and Portugal. These agreements are all in force, except the agreements with Finland and Ireland, which have been signed but not yet ratified. In addition, 6 readmission agreements with candidate countries (Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Hungary and Bulgaria) are in force. The Romanian Government will re-negotiate the readmission agreements with Austria and Hungary in order to update and align them with the relevant EU recommendations and standards. The necessary internal procedures are to be finalised in the second half of 2001.

The Romanian Government intends to urgently propose to the authorities of the United Kingdom, Portugal, Cyprus and Malta negotiations on readmission agreements. In the same context, although they do not represent a real operational priority, similar proposals will be made to the competent authorities in the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) so that the entire area is covered, including candidate countries.

Outside the European Union or candidate countries, readmission agreements with Switzerland, India, and Croatia are in force. Negotiations are ongoing with Egypt, Ukraine and FYROM, whereas drafts for readmission agreements have been prepared for Moldova, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Israel, and Lebanon. In order to stop the illegal migration flows from the Middle East, Asia and Africa, the Romanian authorities have set as an objective the re-launching of diplomatic demarches for the conclusion of readmission agreements with countries of these regions. It is anticipated that this process will continue until 2005.

The scope of the readmission agreements covers third country citizens in the case of France, Germany, Greece, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Ireland and Sweden. Also the agreements with Bulgaria, Slovenia, Croatia and Hungary cover third country citizens, whereas the other agreements concern only nationals of the contracting parties. Romanian authorities assume that there are no problems with the application of readmission agreements and wish to solve on a bilateral basis the difficulties in the interpretation of an annex concerning stateless people.

5.2. Repatriations to Romania

According to the existing readmission agreements, Romanian authorities accept, without special formalities, Romanian nationals caught in illegal situation on the territory of the contracting states, and who are to be expelled by the foreign authorities. Romanian authorities accept them even when they do not posses a valid passport or identity card, if it can be proved or presumed that these persons possess Romanian citizenship.

Romanian citizenship is proved by a Romanian passport, by other travel document issued by the Romanian authorities, or by a valid and complete Romanian identity card. Romanian citizenship is presumed on the basis of expired tourist passports, other travel documents or identity cards, drivers licenses, work permits, sailors book, convincing witness statements, or the individual's own statement provided that the person knows the Romanian language. If doubts remain about the documents provided to prove or presume the Romanian citizenship, Romanian consular authorities verify the identity data of the person with the Passports Directorate of the Ministry of Interior. This authority communicates in the shortest time if the civil status data corresponds and if the person has Romanian citizenship. This procedure may be improved by the planned implementation of an on-line data system.

According to Romanian sources, the number of Romanian nationals that have been repatriated to Romania is 19,714 in 1998 (10,747 from Member states), 23,036 in 1999 (10,312 from Member states) and 21,411 in 2000 (9,003 from Member states).

The National Office for Refugees has taken measures in order to facilitate the repatriation and reintegration of Romanian nationals, who have requested asylum in EU Member States. For instance, in co-operation with the International Office for Migrations (IOM) a reintegration pilot-programme for former Romanian asylum seekers from Belgium, the Netherlands and Finland is under way. In a different context, a three year agreement with IOM regarding the socio-professional reintegration of women who have been the victims of international trafficking is being prepared, and the legislative programme of the Ministry of Interior for 2001 includes the elaboration of a law on integration. This project is expected to provide measures for recognised refugees and for repatriated Romanian citizens.

The statistical data regarding the voluntary repatriation of Romanian persons were 1292 in 1998, 863 in 1999 and 587 in 2000.

5.3. Liaison officers

As far as the exchange of liaison officers is concerned, due to budgetary constraints and also the lack of an adequate legal framework, Romanian authorities have not appointed up to now permanent liaison officers in the EU Member States. On a bi-lateral basis in the context of the implementation of readmission agreements, and at the request of some candidate countries and some Member States, the Ministry of Interior has ensured the presence in these countries of police officers in charge of combating illegal immigration in limited periods (1-3 months). These liaison officers will be financially supported by the authorities of the beneficiary states.

It is intended to gradually set up home affairs attaché offices in the main EU Member States, in particular in the destination countries for illegal immigrants crossing Romania. This process is dependent on identification and mobilisation of the necessary financial resources, as well as the selection and training of the necessary personnel. Until the final solution of these issues, provisional solutions will be sought.

In addition to this, resident and non-resident officers and attachés of home/police affairs have been appointed by a number of Member States (Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom and Spain) as well as by other third countries (Australia, Israel, Russian Federation, U.S.A. and Ukraine).

6 Conclusion

With a view to preparing the report due by 30 June 2001 the Commission will continue to co-operate with the Romanian authorities in order to identify the commitments Romania is prepared to take, what means it will use to fulfil these commitments, as well as a timetable, and will assist in finalising the roadmap that the Romanian government has prepared to this end.