CELEX: 22007A1219(08)
Language: en
Date: 2007-09-18 00:00:00
Title: Agreement between the European Community and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on the facilitation of the issuance of visas

19.12.2007              EN                              Official Journal of the European Union                                                 L 334/125
                                                                      AGREEMENT
               between the European Community and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on the facilitation
                                                                of the issuance of visas
               THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY, hereinafter referred to as ‘the Community’,
               and
               THE FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA, hereinafter referred to as ‘the Parties’,
               HAVING REGARD to the European Council decision of December 2005 to grant the former Yugoslav Republic of Mace-
               donia, candidate country status,
               HAVING REGARD to the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) between the European Community and the former
               Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, which was signed in April 2001 and entered into force on 1 April 2004 and which cur-
               rently governs the relations with the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia,
               REAFFIRMING, the intention to cooperate closely within the framework of the existing SAA structures for the liberalization
               of the visa regime between the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and the European Union, in line with the conclu-
               sions of the EU-Western Balkans Summit held in Thessaloniki on 21 June 2003,
               RECOGNISING the progress made by the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in the area of justice, freedom and secu-
               rity and, in particular, on migration, visa policy, border management and on document security,
               DESIRING, as a first concrete step towards the visa free travel regime, to facilitate people to people contacts as an important
               condition for a steady development of economic, humanitarian, cultural, scientific and other ties, by facilitating the issuing
               of visas to citizens of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia,
               BEARING IN MIND that, all EU citizens are exempted from the visa requirement when travelling to the former Yugoslav
               Republic of Macedonia for a period of time not exceeding 90 days or transiting through the territory of the former Yugoslav
               Republic of Macedonia,
               RECOGNISING that if the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia was to reintroduce the visa requirement for EU citizens,
               the same facilitations granted under this agreement to the citizens of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia would
               automatically, on the basis of reciprocity, apply to EU citizens,
               RECOGNISING that visa facilitation should not lead to illegal migration and paying special attention to security and
               readmission,
               TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the Protocol on the position of the United Kingdom and Ireland and the Protocol integrating the
               Schengen acquis into the framework of the European Union, annexed to the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty estab-
               lishing the European Community and confirming that the provisions of this agreement do not apply to the United Kingdom
               and Ireland,
               TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the Protocol on the position of Denmark annexed to the Treaty on European Union and the
               Treaty establishing the European Community and confirming that the provisions of this agreement do not apply to the King-
               dom of Denmark,
               HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS:
                                 Article 1                                         to the citizens of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
                                                                                   would automatically, on the basis of reciprocity, apply to EU citi-
                Purpose and scope of application                                   zens concerned.
1.    The purpose of this Agreement is to facilitate the issuance                                                   Article 2
of visas for an intended stay of no more than 90 days per period
of 180 days to the citizens of the former Yugoslav Republic of                                                   General clause
Macedonia.
                                                                                   1. The visa facilitations provided in this Agreement shall apply
                                                                                   to citizens of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia only
2.    If the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia was to rein-                    insofar as they are not exempted from the visa requirement by the
troduce the visa requirement for EU citizens or certain categories                 laws and regulations of the Community or the Member States, the
of EU citizens, the same facilitations granted under this agreement                present agreement or other international agreements.
 ---pagebreak--- L 334/126               EN                          Official Journal of the European Union                                          19.12.2007
2.    The national law of the former Yugoslav Republic of Mace-             (b) Persons participating in scientific, research, cultural and artis-
donia, or of the Member States or Community law shall apply to                  tic activities, including university and other exchange
issues not covered by the provisions of this Agreement, such as                 programmes:
the refusal to issue a visa, recognition of travel documents, proof
of sufficient means of subsistence and the refusal of entry and
expulsion measures.                                                             — a written request from the host organisation to partici-
                                                                                     pate in those activities;
                               Article 3                                    (c) Representatives of civil society organisations, when undertak-
                             Definitions                                        ing trips for the purposes of educational training, seminars,
                                                                                conferences, including in the framework of exchange
                                                                                programmes:
For the purpose of this Agreement:
                                                                                — a written request issued by the host organisation, a con-
(a) ‘Member State’ shall mean any Member State of the European                       firmation that the person is representing the civil soci-
     Union, with the exception of the Kingdom of Denmark, the                        ety organisation and the certificate on establishment of
     Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom;                                     such organisation from the relevant Register issued by a
                                                                                     state authority in accordance with the national
                                                                                     legislation;
(b) ‘Citizen of the European Union’ shall mean a national of a
     Member State as defined in point (a);
                                                                            (d) Journalists:
(c) ‘Citizen of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia’: shall
     mean any person who possesses the citizenship of the former                — a certificate or other document issued by a professional
     Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia;                                                 organization proving that the person concerned is a
                                                                                     qualified journalist and a document issued by his/her
                                                                                     employer stating that the purpose of the journey is to
(d) ‘Visa’ shall mean an authorization issued by a Member State
                                                                                     carry out journalistic work;
     or a decision taken by such State which is required with a
     view to:
                                                                            (e) Participants in international sports events and persons
     — entry for an intended stay in that Member State or in                    accompanying them in a professional capacity:
          several Member States of no more than 90 days in total,
                                                                                — a written request from the host organization: competent
     — entry for transit through the territory of that Member                        authorities, national sport Federations or National Olym-
          State or several Member States;                                            pic Committees of the Member States;
(e) ‘legally residing person’ shall mean a citizen of the former            (f) Business people        and     representatives     of    business
     Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia authorized or entitled to                   organisations:
     stay for more than 90 days in the territory of a Member State,
     on the basis of Community or national legislation.
                                                                                — a written request from a host legal person or company,
                                                                                     or an office or branch of such legal person or company,
                                                                                     or state or local authorities of the Member States or
                               Article 4                                             organising committees of trade and industrial exhibi-
    Documentary evidence regarding the purpose of the                                tions, conferences and symposia held in the territories of
                               journey                                               Member States;
1.    For the following categories of citizens of the former Yugo-          (g) Members of the professions participating in international
slav Republic of Macedonia the following documents are suffi-                   exhibitions, conferences, symposia, seminars or other simi-
cient for justifying the purpose of the journey to the other Party:             lar events held in the territory of the Member States:
(a) Pupils, high school and university students, post-graduate                  — a written request from the host organisation confirming
     students and accompanying teachers who undertake trips for                      that the person concerned is participating in the event;
     the purposes of study or educational training, including in
     the framework of exchange programmes, as well as other
     educational or school-related activities:                              (h) Participants in official exchange programmes organized by
                                                                                twin cities:
     — a written request or a certificate of enrolment from the
          host university, college or school or student cards or cer-           — a written request of the head of administration/mayor of
          tificates of the courses to be attended;                                   these cities;
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(i) Drivers conducting international cargo and passenger trans-            (p) Persons travelling for tourism:
    portation services to the territories of the Member States in
    vehicles registered in the former Yugoslav Republic of                       — a certificate or voucher from a travel agency or a tour
    Macedonia:                                                                        operator accredited by Member States in the framework
                                                                                      of the local consular cooperation confirming the book-
                                                                                      ing of an organised trip;
    — a written request from an association of carriers of the
          former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia providing for
          international road transportation, stating the purpose,          (q) for visiting military and civil burial grounds:
          duration and frequency of the trips;
                                                                                 — an official document confirming the existence and pres-
                                                                                      ervation of the grave as well as family or other relation-
(j) Members of train, refrigerator and locomotive crews in inter-                     ship between the applicant and the buried;
    national trains travelling to the territories of the Member
    States:
                                                                           2. The written request mentioned in paragraph 1 of this Article
                                                                           shall contain the following items:
    — written request from the competent railway company of
          the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia stating the            (a) or the invited person: name and surname, date of birth, sex,
          purpose, duration and frequency of the trips;                          citizenship, number of identity document, time and purpose
                                                                                 of the journey, number of entries and where relevant the
(k) Close relatives — spouse, children (including adopted), par-                 name of the spouse and children accompanying the invited
                                                                                 person;
    ents (including custodians), grandparents and grandchildren
    visiting citizens of the former Yugoslav Republic of Mace-
    donia legally residing in the territory of the Member States:          (b) for the inviting person — name, surname and address; or
                                                                           (c) for the inviting legal person, company or organisation — full
    — a written request from the host person;
                                                                                 name and address and
(l) Representatives of the religious communities:                                — if the request is issued by an organisation, the name and
                                                                                      position of the person who signs the request,
    — a written request from a religious community registered
          in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, stating                  — if the inviting person is a legal person or company or an
          the purpose, duration and frequency of the trips;                           office or a branch of such legal person or company
                                                                                      established in the territory of a Member State, the regis-
                                                                                      tration number as required by the national law of the
(m) Persons visiting for medical reasons and necessary accompa-                       Member State concerned.
    nying persons:
                                                                           3.     For the categories of persons mentioned in paragraph 1 of
                                                                           this article, all categories of visa are issued according to the sim-
    — an official document of a medical institution confirming
                                                                           plified procedure without requiring any other justification, invi-
          the necessity of medical care in this institution, the
                                                                           tation or validation concerning the purpose of the journey.
          necessity of being accompanied and proof of sufficient
          financial means to pay for the medical treatment;
                                                                                                           Article 5
(n) Persons visiting for burial ceremonies:                                                   Issuance of multiple-entry visas
    — an official document confirming the fact of death as well            1.     Diplomatic missions and consular posts of the Member
          as confirmation of the family or other relationship              States shall issue multiple-entry visas with a term of validity of up
          between the applicant and the buried;                            to five years to the following categories of persons:
(o) Members of official delegations who, following an official             (a) Members of national government, Parliament, Constitutional
                                                                                 Court, Supreme Court, Judiciary Council and Public Prosecu-
    invitation addressed to the former Yugoslav Republic of
                                                                                 tors Council, if they are not exempted from the visa require-
    Macedonia shall participate in meetings, consultations, nego-
                                                                                 ment by the present Agreement, in the exercise of their
    tiations or exchange programmes, as well as in events held in
                                                                                 duties, with a term of validity limited to their term of office if
    the territory of the Member States by intergovernmental                      this is less than five years;
    organisations:
                                                                           (b) Permanent members of official delegations who following an
    — a letter issued by an authority of the former Yugoslav                     official invitation addressed to the former Yugoslav Republic
          Republic of Macedonia confirming that the applicant is                 of Macedonia shall regularly participate in meetings, consul-
          a member of its delegation, travelling to the other party              tations, negotiations or exchange programmes, as well as in
          to participate at the aforementioned events, accompa-                  events held in the territory of the Member States by intergov-
          nied by a copy of the official invitation;                             ernmental organisations;
 ---pagebreak--- L 334/128               EN                          Official Journal of the European Union                                          19.12.2007
(c) Spouses and children (including adopted), who are under the             (j)  Persons needing to visit regularly for medical reasons and
     age of 21 or are dependent and parents (including custodi-                  necessary accompanying persons;
     ans) visiting citizens of the former Yugoslav Republic of
     Macedonia legally residing in the territory of the Member
     States, with the term of validity limited to the duration of the       (k) Members of official delegations who, following an official
     validity of their authorization for legal residence;                        invitation addressed to the former Yugoslav Republic of
                                                                                 Macedonia, shall regularly participate in meetings, consulta-
                                                                                 tions, negotiations or exchange programmes, as well as in
(d) Business people and representatives of business organisations                events held in the territory of the Member States by intergov-
     who regularly travel to the Member States;                                  ernmental organisations.
(e) Journalists;                                                            3.     Diplomatic missions and consular posts of the Member
                                                                            States shall issue multiple-entry visas with the term of validity of
                                                                            a minimum of two years and a maximum of five years to the cat-
(f) Representatives of religious communities registered in the              egories of persons referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article, and
     former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, who regularly travel            to other persons provided that during the previous year they have
     to the Member States.                                                  made use of the one multiple-entry visa in accordance with the
                                                                            laws on entry and stay of the visited State and that the reasons for
                                                                            requesting a multiple-entry visa are still valid.
2.     Diplomatic missions and consular posts of the Member
States shall issue multiple-entry visas with a term of validity of up
to one year to the following categories of persons, provided that           4.     The total period of stay of persons referred to in para-
during the previous year they have obtained at least one visa, have         graphs 1 to 3 of this Article shall not exceed 90 days per period
made use of it in accordance with the laws on entry and stay of             of 180 days in the territory of the Member States.
the visited State and that there are reasons for requesting a
multiple-entry visa:
                                                                                                           Article 6
(a) Students and post-graduate students who regularly undertake
                                                                                          Fees for processing visa applications
     trips for the purposes of study or educational training, includ-
     ing in the framework of exchange programmes;
                                                                            1.     The fee for processing visa applications of citizens of the
                                                                            former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia shall amount to EUR 35.
(b) Persons who participate in scientific, research, cultural and
     artistic activities, including university and other exchange
     programs who regularly travel to the Member States;                    The aforementioned amount may be reviewed in accordance with
                                                                            the procedure provided for in Article 14(4).
(c) Participants in international sports events and persons
     accompanying them in a professional capacity;                          If the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia was to reintroduce
                                                                            the visa requirement for EU citizens, the visa fee to be charged by
(d) Members of the professions participating in international               the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia shall not be higher
     exhibitions, conferences, symposia, seminars or other simi-            than EUR 35 or the amount agreed if the fee is reviewed in accor-
                                                                            dance with the procedure provided for in Article 14(4).
     lar events who regularly travel to the Member States;
(e) Representatives of civil society organisations, travelling regu-        2.     Fees for processing the visa application are waived for the
     larly to Member States for the purposes of educational train-          following categories of persons:
     ing, seminars, conferences, including in the framework of
     exchange programmes;                                                   (a) close relatives — spouse, children (including adopted) par-
                                                                                 ents (including custodians), grandparents and grandchildren
(f) Participants in official exchange programmes organized by                    of citizens of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia,
     twin cities;                                                                legally residing in the territory of the Member States;
(g) Mayors and members of the municipal councils;                           (b) members of official delegations who, following an official
                                                                                 invitation addressed to the former Yugoslav Republic of
                                                                                 Macedonia shall participate in meetings, consultations, nego-
(h) Drivers conducting international cargo and passenger trans-                  tiations or exchange programmes, as well as in events held in
     portation services to the territories of the Member States in               the territory of the Member States by intergovernmental
     vehicles registered in the former Yugoslav Republic of                      organisations;
     Macedonia;
                                                                            (c) members of national government, Parliament, Constitutional
(i)  Members of train, refrigerator and locomotive crews, in inter-              Court, Supreme Court, Judiciary Council and Public Prosecu-
     national trains, travelling to the territories of the Member                tors Council, if they are not exempted from the visa require-
     States;                                                                     ment by the present Agreement;
 ---pagebreak--- 19.12.2007             EN                           Official Journal of the European Union                                            L 334/129
(d) mayors and members of the municipal councils;                                                         Article 7
                                                                                Length of procedures for processing visa applications
(e) disabled persons and the person accompanying them, if
     necessary;
                                                                            1.    Diplomatic missions and consular posts of the Member
(f) persons who have presented documents proving the neces-                 States shall take a decision on the request to issue a visa within 10
     sity of their travel on humanitarian grounds, including to             calendar days of the date of the receipt of the application and
     receive urgent medical treatment and the person accompa-               documents required for issuing the visa.
     nying such person, or to attend a funeral of a close relative
     or to visit a seriously ill close relative;
                                                                            2.    The period of time for taking a decision on a visa applica-
(g) participants in international sports events and persons                 tion may be extended to up to 30 calendar days in individual
     accompanying them in a professional capacity;                          cases, notably when further scrutiny of the application is needed.
(h) persons participating in scientific, research, cultural and artis-
     tic activities including university and other exchange                 3.    The period of time for taking a decision on a visa applica-
     programmes;                                                            tion may be reduced to two working days or less in urgent cases.
(i)  participants in official exchange programmes organized by
     twin cities;                                                                                         Article 8
                                                                                    Departure in case of lost or stolen documents
(j)  journalists;
(k) pensioners;                                                             Citizens of the European Union and of the former Yugoslav
                                                                            Republic of Macedonia who have lost their identity documents, or
(l)  drivers conducting international cargo and passenger trans-            from whom these documents have been stolen while staying in
     portation services to the territories of the Member States in          the territory of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia or the
     vehicles registered in the former Yugoslav Republic of                 Member States, may leave that territory on the basis of valid iden-
     Macedonia;                                                             tity documents entitling them to cross the border issued by dip-
                                                                            lomatic missions or consular posts of the Member States or of the
                                                                            former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia without any visa or other
(m) members of train, refrigerator and locomotive crews in inter-
                                                                            authorisation.
     national trains, travelling to the territories of the Member
     States;
(n) representatives of civil society organisations when undertak-                                         Article 9
     ing trips to attend meetings, seminars, exchange programmes
     or trainings courses;                                                          Extension of visa in exceptional circumstances
(o) representatives of religious communities registered in the
                                                                            The citizens of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia who
     former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia;
                                                                            do not have the possibility to leave the territory of the Member
                                                                            States by the time stated in their visas for reasons of force majeure,
(p) members of the professions participating in international               humanitarian, serious occupational or personal reasons shall have
     exhibitions, conferences, symposia, seminars or other simi-            the term of their visas extended free of charge in accordance with
     lar events held in the territory of the Member States;                 the legislation applied by the receiving State for the period
                                                                            required for their return to the State of their residence.
(q) pupils, students, post-graduate students and accompanying
     teachers who undertake trips for the purposes of study or
     educational training, including in the framework of exchange
     programmes, as well as other educational or school related                                           Article 10
     activities;                                                                                   Diplomatic passports
(r) children under six years of age.
                                                                            1.    Citizens of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia,
3. By way of derogation from paragraph 1 above, Bulgaria and                holders of valid diplomatic passports can enter, leave and transit
Romania which are bound by the Schengen acquis but which do                 through the territories of the Member States without visas.
not yet issue Schengen visas, may waive the fees for processing
national short stay visa applications for citizens of the former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, until the day to be determined              2.    Persons mentioned in paragraph 1 of this Article may stay
by the Council Decision for their full implementation of the                in the territories of the Member States for a period not exceeding
Schengen acquis on visa policy.                                             90 days per period of 180 days.
 ---pagebreak--- L 334/130               EN                          Official Journal of the European Union                                          19.12.2007
                               Article 11                                   States and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, insofar as
                                                                            the provisions of the latter agreements or arrangements cover
                    Territorial validity of visas                           issues dealt with by the present Agreement.
Subject to the national rules and regulations concerning national
security of the Member States and subject to EU rules on visas              2.     The provisions of bilateral Agreements or arrangements
with limited territorial validity, citizens of the former Yugoslav          between individual Member States and the former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia shall be entitled to travel within the terri-         Republic of Macedonia signed before 1 January 2007 providing
tory of the Member States on an equal basis with European Union             for the exemption of the holders of service passports from the
citizens.                                                                   visa requirement, shall continue to apply for a period of five years
                                                                            from the entry into force of this Agreement without prejudice to
                                                                            the right of the Member States concerned or the former Yugoslav
                               Article 12                                   Republic of Macedonia to denounce or suspend these bilateral
                                                                            agreements during this period of five years.
     Joint Committee for management of the Agreement
1.      The Parties shall set up a Joint Committee of experts (here-                                      Article 14
inafter referred to as ‘the Committee’), composed of representa-
tives of the European Community and of the former Yugoslav                                              Final clauses
Republic of Macedonia. The Community shall be represented by
the Commission of the European Communities, assisted by                     1.     This Agreement shall be ratified or approved by the Parties
experts from the Member States.                                             in accordance with their respective procedures and shall enter into
                                                                            force on the first day of the second month following the date on
2.      The Committee shall, in particular, have the following tasks:       which the Parties notify each other that the procedures referred to
                                                                            above have been completed.
(a) monitoring the implementation of the present Agreement,
      (regular exchange of information, including data on number            2.     By way of derogation to paragraph 1 of this Article, the
      of issued visas, submitted and rejected visa applications);           present agreement shall only enter into force on the date of the
                                                                            entry into force of the Agreement between the European Com-
(b) suggesting amendments or additions to the present                       munity and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on read-
      Agreement;                                                            mission of persons if this date is after the date provided for in
                                                                            paragraph 1 of this Article.
(c) settling disputes arising out of the interpretation or applica-
      tion of the provisions in this Agreement.
                                                                            3.     This Agreement is concluded for an indefinite period of
                                                                            time, unless terminated in accordance with paragraph 6 of this
3.      The Committee shall meet whenever necessary at the
                                                                            Article.
request of one of the Parties and at least once a year.
4.      The Committee shall establish its rules of procedure.               4.     This Agreement may be amended by written agreement of
                                                                            the Parties. Amendments shall enter into force after the Parties
5.      The Committee shall inform the relevant bodies established          have notified each other of the completion of their internal pro-
under the Stabilization and Association Agreement providing                 cedures necessary for this purpose.
periodically data on the implementation of the present
Agreement.                                                                  5.     Each Party may suspend in whole or in part this Agreement
                                                                            for reasons of public order, protection of national security or pro-
                                                                            tection of public health. The decision on suspension shall be noti-
                               Article 13                                   fied to the other Party not later than 48 hours before its entry into
    Relation of this Agreement with bilateral Agreements                    force. The Party that has suspended the application of this Agree-
between Member States and the former Yugoslav Republic                      ment shall immediately inform the other Party once the reasons
                             of Macedonia                                   for the suspension no longer apply.
1.      As from its entry into force, this Agreement shall take pre-        6.     Each Party may terminate this Agreement by giving written
cedence over provisions of any bilateral or multilateral agree-             notice to the other Party. This Agreement shall cease to be in force
ments or arrangements concluded between individual Member                   90 days after the date of such notification.
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                                                                       ANNEX
           PROTOCOL TO THE AGREEMENT ON THE MEMBER STATES THAT DO NOT FULLY APPLY THE SCHENGEN
                                                                      ACQUIS
           Those Member States which are bound by the Schengen acquis but which do not issue yet Schengen visas, while awaiting the
           relevant decision of the Council to that end, shall issue national visas the validity of which is limited to their own territory.
           These Member States may unilaterally recognise Schengen visas and residence permits for the transit through their territory,
           in accordance with European parliament and Council Decision No 895/2006/EC of 14 June 2006.
           As European Parliament and Council Decision No 895/2006/EC of 14 June 2006 does not apply to Romania and Bulgaria;
           similar provisions will be proposed by the European Commission in order to enable these countries to unilaterally recognise
           Schengen visas and residence permits and other similar documents issued by other Member States not yet fully integrated
           into the Schengen area for the purpose of transit through their territory.
 ---pagebreak--- L 334/132         EN                           Official Journal of the European Union                                        19.12.2007
               JOINT DECLARATION ON THE PERSPECTIVE ON MUTUAL VISA FREE TRAVEL REGIME
          In accordance with the conclusions of the EU-Western Balkans Summit held in Thessaloniki on 21 June 2003
          the visa facilitations provided under this Agreement shall represent a transitional phase towards visa free travel
          regime for the citizens of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
          The visa free travel regime will be introduced for the citizens of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia,
          on the basis of positive assessment of the country’s achievements in implementing relevant reforms and in
          accordance with the procedures and criteria provided for in the Council Regulation 539/2001 of 15 March
          2001.
                                       JOINT DECLARATION CONCERNING DENMARK
          The Parties take note that the present Agreement does not apply to the procedures for issuing visas by the dip-
          lomatic missions and consular posts of the Kingdom of Denmark.
          In such circumstances, it is desirable that the authorities of Denmark and of the former Yugoslav Republic of
          Macedonia conclude, without delay, a bilateral agreement on the facilitation of the issuance of short-stay visas
          in similar terms as the Agreement between the European Community and the former Yugoslav Republic of
          Macedonia.
                     JOINT DECLARATION CONCERNING THE UNITED KINGDOM AND IRELAND
          The Parties take note that the present Agreement does not apply to the territory of the United Kingdom and
          Ireland.
          In such circumstances, it is desirable that the authorities of the United Kingdom, Ireland and the former Yugo-
          slav Republic of Macedonia, conclude bilateral agreements on the facilitation of the issuance of visas.
                               JOINT DECLARATION CONCERNING ICELAND AND NORWAY
          The Parties take note of the close relationship between the European Community and Norway and Iceland,
          particularly by virtue of the Agreement of 18 May 1999 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 Norway, Iceland and the former Yugoslav Republic
          of Macedonia conclude, without delay, bilateral agreements on the facilitation of the issuance of short-stay visas
          in similar terms as the Agreement between the European Community and the former Yugoslav Republic of
          Macedonia.
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                 JOINT DECLARATION CONCERNING SWISS CONFEDERATION AND LIECHTENSTEIN
                                                                (if needed)
           If the Agreement between the EU, the EC and the Swiss Confederation concerning the Swiss Confederation’s
           association with the implementation, application and development of the Schengen acquis and the Protocols
           to this Agreement concerning Liechtenstein has entered into force by the time negotiations with the former
           Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia have concluded, a similar declaration will also be made in respect of Swit-
           zerland and Liechtenstein.
                         JOINT DECLARATION ON FEES FOR PROCESSING VISA APPLICATIONS
           The European Community takes note of the concerns raised by the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
           on the fact that the citizens of the latter are issued Schengen visas with territorial validity limited to one or
           several Member States. The European Community also takes note of the request put forward by the former
           Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia that its citizens that are holders of Schengen visas with territorial validity lim-
           ited to one or several Member States and who need to travel, within the period of validity of that visa, to a
           Member State not included in the territorial validity of that visa, should not be charged for the processing fees
           for the second visa application.
           The Parties consider that this issue should be assessed again, as a matter of priority, by the Committee referred
           to in Article 12, once the European Parliament and the Council will have adopted the Community Code on
           Visa, the draft of which deals with this issue.
                              EUROPEAN COMMUNITY DECLARATION ON REVIEWING THE
                               VISA REQUIREMENT FOR HOLDERS OF SERVICE PASSPORTS
           As the exemption of the holders of service passports from the visa requirement provided in bilateral Agree-
           ments or arrangements between individual Member States and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
           which have been signed before 1 January 2007 shall only continue to apply for a period of five years from the
           entry into force of this Agreement without prejudice to the right of the Member States concerned or the former
           Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to denounce or suspend these bilateral agreements during this period of five
           years, the European Community will reassess the situation of the holders of service passports at the latest two
           years after the entry into force of this Agreement, in view of a possible amendment of the Agreement to that
           end in accordance with the procedure provided in Article 14(4).
 ---pagebreak--- L 334/134          EN                          Official Journal of the European Union                                       19.12.2007
          EUROPEAN COMMUNITY DECLARATION ON ACCESS OF VISA APPLICANTS AND
          HARMONISATION OF INFORMATION ON PROCEDURES FOR ISSUING SHORT-STAY VISAS
                  AND DOCUMENTS TO BE SUBMITTED WHEN APPLYING FOR SHORT-STAY VISAS
          Recognising the importance of transparency for visa applicants, the European Community recalls that the leg-
          islative proposal on the recast of the Common Consular Instructions on visas for the diplomatic missions and
          consular posts has been adopted on 19 July 2006 by the European Commission and currently under discus-
          sions between the European Parliament and the Council, addresses the issue of conditions of access of visa
          applicants to diplomatic missions and consular posts of the Member States.
          Regarding the information to be provided to visa applicants the European Community considers that appro-
          priate measures should be taken:
          — in general, to draw up basic information for applicants on the procedures and conditions for applying for
                visas and on their validity,
          — the European Community will draw up a list of minimum requirements in order to ensure that applicants
                from former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia are given coherent and uniform basic information and are
                required to submit, in principle, the same supporting documents.
          The information mentioned above including the list of accredited travel agencies and tour operators in the
          framework of local consular cooperation is to be disseminated widely (on the notice boards of consulates, in
          leaflets, on websites etc.).
          Diplomatic missions and consular posts of the Member States shall organise themselves in such a way that an
          appointment for submitting the visa application and the relevant supporting documents can be ensured within
          a reasonable period of time.
          The diplomatic missions and consular posts of the Member States shall provide information about existing pos-
          sibilities under the Schengen acquis for facilitation of the issuing of short-term visas including on the simpli-
          fication of document requirements on a case-by-case basis, and in particular for bona fide applicants.
                      POLITICAL DECLARATION FROM BULGARIA ON LOCAL BORDER TRAFFIC
          The Republic of Bulgaria declares its willingness to enter into negotiations of bilateral agreement with the
          former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia for the purpose of implementing the local border traffic regime estab-
          lished by the EC Regulation No 1931/2006 of 20 December 2006 laying down rules on local border traffic at
          the external land borders of the Member States and amending the provisions of the Schengen Convention.
 ---pagebreak--- 19.12.2007         EN                          Official Journal of the European Union                                             L 334/135
                EUROPEAN COMMUNITY DECLARATION ON FACILITATIONS FOR FAMILY MEMBERS
           The European Community takes note of the suggestion of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 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 former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 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 former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia legally residing
           in the territories of Member States, the European Community invites the Member States’ consular offices to
           make full use of the existing possibilities in the acquis communautaire for facilitating the issuance of visas to this
           category of persons, including in particular, the simplification of documentary evidence requested for the appli-
           cants, exemptions from handling fees and where appropriate the issuing of multiple entry visas.