CELEX: 22013A0620(01)
Language: en
Date: 2012-06-27 00:00:00
Title: 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

20.6.2013               EN                               Official Journal of the European Union                                             L 168/3
                                                                      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,
               and
               THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA,
               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 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,
               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                                             (b) Point (f) shall be replaced by the following:
The Agreement between the European Community and the
Republic of Moldova on the facilitation of the issuance of
                                                                                          ‘(f) for journalists and the technical crew accom­
visas, hereinafter referred to as the ‘Agreement’, shall be
                                                                                               panying them in a professional capacity:
amended in accordance with the provisions of this Article:
 (1) In the title, the word ‘Community’ shall be replaced by the                               — certificate or other document issued by a
      word ‘Union’.                                                                                 professional organisation or the applicant’s
                                                                                                    employer proving that the person concerned
                                                                                                    is a qualified journalist and stating that the
 (2) In Article 2(1) and (2) and in Article 3 point (e), the word                                   purpose of the journey is to carry out jour­
      ‘Community’ shall be replaced by the words ‘European                                          nalistic work or proving that the person is a
      Union’.                                                                                       member of the technical crew accompanying
                                                                                                    the journalist in a professional capacity;’;
 (3) Article 4 paragraph 1 shall be amended as follows:
                                                                                      (c) Point (k) shall be replaced by the following:
      (a) Point (d) shall be replaced by the following:
                                                                                          ‘(k) for close relatives – spouse, children (including
                                                                                                adopted children), parents (including custodians),
          ‘(d) for drivers conducting international cargo and                                   grandparents and grandchildren – visiting citizens
               passenger transportation services to the territories                             of the Republic of Moldova legally residing in the
               of the Member States in vehicles registered in the                               territory of the Member States, or citizens of the
               Republic of Moldova:                                                             European Union residing in the territory of the
                                                                                                Member State of which they are nationals:
                — a written request from the national association
                    of carriers of the Republic of Moldova                                      — a written request from the host person;’;
                    providing for international road transpor­
                    tation, stating the purpose, itinerary, duration
                    and frequency of the trips;’;                                     (d) The following point shall be added:
 ---pagebreak--- L 168/4               EN                           Official Journal of the European Union                                          20.6.2013
          ‘(p) for participants in official European Union cross-               — in the case of the persons referred to in point (d), the
               border cooperation programmes, such as under                          term of validity of the status as a representative of the
               the European Neighbourhood and Partnership                            business organisation or the work contract, or
               Instrument (ENPI):
                                                                                — in the case of the persons referred to in point (e), the
               — a written request by the host organisation.’.                       work contract
 (4) In Article 5, paragraphs 1 to 3 shall be replaced by the
                                                                                is less than five years.
     following:
     ‘1.     Diplomatic missions and consular posts of the                      2.     Diplomatic missions and consular posts of the
     Member States shall issue multiple-entry visas with a                      Member States shall issue multiple-entry visas with a
     term of validity of five years to the following categories                 term of validity of one year to the following categories
     of persons:                                                                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
     (a) members of national and regional Governments and                       State:
         Parliaments, of the Constitutional Court and Supreme
         Court if they are not exempted from the visa
         requirement by this Agreement, in the exercise of                      (a) members of official delegations who, following an
         their duties;                                                               official invitation addressed to the Republic of
                                                                                     Moldova, are to participate regularly in meetings,
                                                                                     consultations, negotiations or exchange programs, as
     (b) permanent members of official delegations who,
                                                                                     well as in events held in the territory of the Member
         following an official invitation addressed to the
                                                                                     States by intergovernmental organisations;
         Republic of Moldova, are to participate regularly in
         meetings, consultations, negotiations or exchange
         programs, as well as in events held in the territory                   (b) representatives of civil society organisations travelling
         of the Member States by intergovernmental organi­                           regularly to Member States for the purposes of
         sations;                                                                    educational training, seminars or conferences,
                                                                                     including in the framework of exchange programmes;
     (c) spouses and children (including adopted children), who
         are under the age of 21 or are dependent, and parents
                                                                                (c) members of the professions participating in inter­
         (including custodians) visiting citizens of the Republic
                                                                                     national exhibitions, conferences, symposia, seminars
         of Moldova legally residing in the territory of the
                                                                                     or other similar events who regularly travel to the
         Member States or citizens of the European Union
                                                                                     Member States;
         residing in the territory of the Member State of
         which they are nationals;
                                                                                (d) drivers conducting international cargo and passenger
     (d) business people and representatives of business organi­                     transportation services to the territories of the
         sations who regularly travel to the Member States;                          Member States in vehicles registered in the Republic
                                                                                     of Moldova;
     (e) journalists and the technical crew accompanying them
         in a professional capacity.                                            (e) members of train, refrigerator and locomotive crews in
                                                                                     international trains travelling to the territories of the
                                                                                     Member States;
     By way of derogation from the first subparagraph, where
     the need or the intention to travel frequently or regularly
     is manifestly limited to a shorter period, the term of                     (f) persons participating in scientific, cultural and artistic
     validity of the multiple-entry visa shall be limited to that                    activities, including university and other exchange
     period, in particular where                                                     programs, who regularly travel to the Member States;
     — in the case of the persons referred to in point (a), the
                                                                                (g) students and post-graduate students who regularly
         term of office,
                                                                                     travel for the purposes of study or educational
                                                                                     training, including in the framework of exchange
     — in the case of the persons referred to in point (b), the                      programmes;
         term of the validity of the status as a permanent
         member of an official delegation,
                                                                                (h) participants in international sports events and persons
                                                                                     accompanying them in a professional capacity;
     — in the case of the persons referred to in point (c), the
         period of validity of the authorisation for legal
         residence of citizens of the Republic of Moldova                       (i) participants in official exchange programmes organised
         legally residing in the European Union,                                     by twin cities or other localities;
 ---pagebreak--- 20.6.2013               EN                         Official Journal of the European Union                                           L 168/5
     (j) participants in official European Union cross-border                                  under the European Neighbourhood and Part­
         cooperation programmes, such as under the                                             nership Instrument (ENPI).’;
         European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument
         (ENPI).
                                                                                      (v) the following subparagraph shall be added:
     By way of derogation from the first subparagraph, where
     the need or the intention to travel frequently or regularly                          ‘The first subparagraph shall apply also where the
     is manifestly limited to a shorter period, the term of                               purpose of the journey is transit.’;
     validity of the multiple-entry visa shall be limited to that
     period.
                                                                                (b) The following paragraph shall be added:
     3.     Diplomatic missions and consular posts of the
     Member States shall issue multiple-entry visas with a                           ‘4.    If a Member State cooperates with an external
     term of validity of a minimum of two years and a                               service provider in view of issuing a visa the external
     maximum of five years to the categories of persons                             service provider may charge a service fee. This fee shall
     referred to in paragraph 2, provided that during the                           be proportionate to the costs incurred by the external
     previous two years they have made use of the one year                          service provider while performing its tasks and shall
     multiple-entry visas in accordance with the laws on entry                      not exceed EUR 30. The Member States shall maintain
     and stay of the visited State unless the need or the                           the possibility for all applicants to lodge their appli­
     intention to travel frequently or regularly is manifestly                      cations directly at their consulates. The external service
     limited to a shorter period, in which case the term of                         provider shall conduct its operations in accordance
     validity of the multiple-entry visa shall be limited to that                   with the Visa Code and in full respect of Moldovan
     period.’.                                                                      legislation.’.
 (5) Article 6 shall be amended as follows:
                                                                            (6) The following Article shall be inserted:
     (a) In paragraph 2,
                                                                                ‘Article 6a
           (i) the introductory words shall be replaced by the                  Lodging of an application without the presence of the
               following:                                                       applicant
                                                                                Member States consulates may waive the requirement to
               ‘2.     Without prejudice to paragraph 4 fees for                appear in person, when the applicant is known to them
               processing the visa application are waived for                   for his integrity and reliability, unless the applicant is
               the following categories of persons:’;                           required to appear in person for the collection of
                                                                                biometric identifiers.’.
          (ii) in point (a), the following words shall be added:
                                                                            (7) Article 8 shall be replaced by the following:
               ‘or citizens of the European Union residing in the
               territory of the Member State of which they are
                                                                                ‘Article 8
               nationals’;
                                                                                Departure in the case of lost or stolen documents
         (iii) in point (j), the following words shall be added:                Citizens of the European Union and citizens of the
                                                                                Republic of Moldova who have lost their identity docu­
               ‘and the technical crew accompanying them in a                   ments, or from whom those documents have been stolen
               professional capacity’;                                          while staying in the territory of the Republic of Moldova
                                                                                or of the Member States, may leave the territory of the
                                                                                Republic of Moldova or of the Member States on the basis
         (iv) the following points shall be added:                              of valid identity documents entitling them to cross the
                                                                                border issued by diplomatic missions or consular posts
               ‘(p) participants aged 25 years or less in seminars,             of the Member States or of the Republic of Moldova
                     conferences, sports, cultural or educational               without any visa or other authorisation.’.
                     events, organised by non profit organisations;
                                                                            (8) Article 10 shall be amended as follows:
               (q) representatives of civil society organisations
                     undertaking trips for purposes of educational
                     training, seminars, conferences, including in              (a) The title shall be replaced by the following:
                     the framework of exchange programmes;
                                                                                    ‘Diplomatic and service passports’;
               (r) participants in official European Union cross-
                     border cooperation programmes, such as                     (b) Paragraph 2 shall be replaced by the following:
 ---pagebreak--- L 168/6               EN                          Official Journal of the European Union                                          20.6.2013
         ‘2.    Citizens of the Republic of Moldova, holders of                     ‘2.    The provisions of bilateral Agreements or
         valid biometric service passports can enter, leave and                     arrangements between individual Member States and
         transit through the territories of the Member States                       the Republic of Moldova concluded before the entry
         without visas.’;                                                           into force of this Agreement providing for the
                                                                                    exemption of the holders of non-biometric service
                                                                                    passports from the visa requirement shall continue to
     (c) The following paragraph shall be added:                                    apply without prejudice to the right of the Member
                                                                                    States concerned or the Republic of Moldova to
         ‘3.    Persons mentioned in paragraphs 1 and 2 may                         denounce or suspend these bilateral agreements or
         stay in the territories of the Member States for a period                  arrangements.’.
         not exceeding 90 days per period of 180 days.’.
                                                                          (11) In Article 14, the following first paragraph shall be
                                                                                inserted:
 (9) Article 12(1) shall be amended as follows:
                                                                                ‘The Republic of Moldova may only reintroduce the visa
     (a) In the first sentence, the word ‘Community’ shall be                   requirement for citizens or certain categories of citizens of
         replaced by the word ‘Union’;                                          all Member States and not for citizens or certain categories
                                                                                of citizens of individual Member States.’.
     (b) In the second sentence, the word ‘Community’ shall be
         replaced by the words ‘European Union’ and the words                                          Article 2
         ‘Commission of the European Communities’ by the                  This Agreement shall be ratified or approved by the Parties in
         words ‘European Commission’.                                     accordance with their respective procedures and shall enter into
                                                                          force on the first day of the second month following the date
(10) Article 13 shall be amended as follows:                              on which the last Party notifies the other that the procedures
                                                                          referred to above have been completed.
     (a) The existing      paragraph shall    be   numbered     as
         paragraph 1;
                                                                          Done at Brussels on the twenty-seventh day of June in the year
                                                                          two thousand and twelve, in duplicate in the official languages
     (b) The following paragraph shall be added:                          of the Parties, each of these texts being equally authentic.
 ---pagebreak--- 20.6.2013        EN                       Official Journal of the European Union L 168/7
          За Европейския съюз
          Por la Unión Europea
          Za Evropskou unii
          For Den Europæiske Union
          Für die Europäische Union
          Euroopa Liidu nimel
          Για την Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση
          For the European Union
          Pour l'Union européenne
          Per l'Unione europea
          Eiropas Savienības vārdā –
          Europos Sąjungos vardu
          Az Európai Unió részéről
          Għall-Unjoni Ewropea
          Voor de Europese Unie
          W imieniu Unii Europejskiej
          Pela União Europeia
          Pentru Uniunea Europeană
          Za Európsku úniu
          Za Evropsko unijo
          Euroopan unionin puolesta
          För Europeiska unionen
          Pentru Uniunea Europeană
          3a Република Молдова
          Por la República de Moldavia
          Za Moldavskou republiku
          For Republikken Moldova
          Für die Republik Moldau
          Moldova Vabariigi nimel
          Για τη Δημοκρατία της Μολδαβίας
          For the Republic of Moldova
          Pour la République de Moldavie
          Per la Repubblica moldova
          Moldovas Republikas vārdā –
          Moldovos Respublikos vardu
          A Moldovai Köztársaság részéről
          Għar-Repubblika tal-Moldova
          Voor de Republiek Moldavië
          W imieniu Republiki Mołdawii
          Pela República da Moldova
          Pentru Republica Moldova
          Za Moldavskú republiku
          Za Republiko Moldavijo
          Moldovan tasavallan puolesta
          För Republiken Moldavien
          Pentru Republica Moldova
 ---pagebreak--- L 168/8         EN                         Official Journal of the European Union                                    20.6.2013
                           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.
 ---pagebreak--- 20.6.2013         EN                           Official Journal of the European Union                                      L 168/9
                       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.