CELEX: 22013A0620(02)
Language: en
Date: 2012-07-23 00:00:00
Title: Agreement between the European Union and Ukraine amending the Agreement between the European Community and Ukraine on the facilitation of the issuance of visas

20.6.2013               EN                               Official Journal of the European Union                                           L 168/11
                                                                      AGREEMENT
               between the European Union and Ukraine amending the Agreement between the European
                                   Community and Ukraine on the facilitation of the issuance of visas
               THE EUROPEAN UNION,
               of the one part, and
               UKRAINE,
               of the other part,
               hereinafter referred to as ‘the Parties’,
               HAVING REGARD to the Agreement between the European Community and Ukraine 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 visafree travel regime for the citizens of Ukraine in due course,
               provided that the conditions for well-managed and secure mobility are in place,
               TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the entry into force of Regulation (EC) No 810/2009 of the European Parliament and of the
               Council of 13 July 2009 establishing a Community Code on Visas (Visa Code) (1), which, in particular provides for the
               obligatory motivation of a visa refusal and the right to appeal for applicants in case of refusal,
               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
               and, 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                                                 ‘(c) for drivers conducting international cargo and
                                                                                                passenger transportation services to the territories
The Agreement between the European Community and Ukraine                                        of the Member States in vehicles registered in
on the facilitation of the issuance of visas, hereinafter referred to                           Ukraine:
as ‘the Agreement’, shall be amended in accordance with the
provisions of this Article:
                                                                                                — a written request from the national association
                                                                                                    of carriers of Ukraine providing for inter­
  (1) In the title, the word ‘Community’ shall be replaced by the                                   national road transportation, stating the
      word ‘Union’.                                                                                 purpose,      duration,   destination(s),    and
                                                                                                    frequency of the trips;’;
  (2) In Article 1(2), the following first subparagraph shall be
      inserted:                                                                       (b) point (e) shall be replaced by the following:
      Ukraine may only reintroduce the visa requirement for                               ‘(e) for journalists and the technical crew accom­
      citizens or certain categories of citizens of all Member                                  panying them in a professional capacity:
      States and not for citizens or certain categories of
      citizens of individual Member States.
                                                                                                — a certificate or other document issued by a
                                                                                                    professional organisation or the applicant’s
  (3) In Article 2(1) and (2), the word ‘Community’ shall be                                        employer proving that the person concerned
      replaced by the words ‘European Union’.                                                       is a qualified journalist and stating that the
                                                                                                    purpose of the journey is to carry out jour­
                                                                                                    nalistic work or proving that the person is a
  (4) In Article 3 point (e), the word ‘Community’ shall be                                         member of the technical crew accompanying
      replaced by the words ‘European Union’.                                                       the journalist in a professional capacity;’;
  (5) Article 4(1) shall be amended as follows:                                       (c) point (i) shall be replaced by the following:
      (a) point (c) shall be replaced by the following:                                   ‘(i) for participants in official exchange programmes
                                                                                               organised by twin cities and other municipal
(1) OJ L 243, 15.9.2009, p. 1.                                                                 entities:
 ---pagebreak--- L 168/12              EN                          Official Journal of the European Union                                          20.6.2013
             — a written request of the Head of Adminis­                   (6) In Article 5, paragraphs 1 to 3, shall be replaced by the
                 tration/Mayor of those cities or other                        following:
                 municipal entities;’;
                                                                               ‘1.     Diplomatic missions and consular posts of the
    (d) point (j) shall be replaced by the following:                          Member States shall issue multiple-entry visas with the
                                                                               term of validity of five years to the following categories
        ‘(j) for close relatives — spouse, children (including                 of persons:
             adopted), parents (including custodians), grand­
             parents and grandchildren — visiting citizens of
                                                                               (a) members of national and regional Governments and
             Ukraine legally residing in the territory of the
                                                                                    Parliaments, Constitutional Courts and Supreme
             Member States or citizens of the European Union
                                                                                    Courts, national and regional prosecutors and their
             residing in the territory of the Member State of
                                                                                    deputies, if they are not exempted from the visa
             which they are nationals:
                                                                                    requirement by the present Agreement, in the
                                                                                    exercise of their duties;
             — a written request from the host person;’;
    (e) point (m) shall be replaced by the following:                          (b) permanent members of official delegations who,
                                                                                    following official invitations addressed to Ukraine,
                                                                                    shall regularly participate in meetings, consultations,
        ‘(m) for visiting for medical reasons and necessary
                                                                                    negotiations or exchange programmes, as well as in
               accompanying persons:
                                                                                    events held in the territory of the Member States by
                                                                                    intergovernmental organisations;
               — an official document of the medical insti­
                   tution confirming the necessity of medical
                   care in that institution, the necessity of                  (c) spouses and children (including adopted), who are
                   being accompanied and proof of sufficient                        under the age of 21 or are dependant, and parents
                   financial means to pay the medical treat­                        (including custodians) visiting citizens of Ukraine
                   ment;’;                                                          legally residing in the territory of the Member States
                                                                                    or citizens of the European Union residing in the
    (f) the following points shall be added:                                        territory of the Member State of which they are
                                                                                    nationals;
        ‘(n) for representatives of civil society organisations
              when undertaking trips for the purposes of                       (d) business people and representatives of business organi­
              educational training, seminars, conferences,                          sations who regularly travel to the Member States;
              including in the framework of exchange
              programmes:                                                      (e) journalists and the technical crew accompanying them
                                                                                    in a professional capacity.
              — a written request issued by the host organi­
                  sation, a confirmation that the person is repre­
                                                                               By way of derogation from the first subparagraph, where
                  senting the civil society organisation and the
                                                                               the need or the intention to travel frequently or regularly
                  certificate on establishment of such organi­
                                                                               is manifestly limited to a shorter period, the term of
                  sation from the relevant Register issued by a
                                                                               validity of the multiple-entry visa shall be limited to that
                  state authority in accordance with the national
                                                                               period, in particular where
                  legislation;
        (o) for members of the professions participating in                    — in the case of the persons referred to in point (a), the
              international exhibitions, conferences, symposia,                     term of office,
              seminars or other similar events held in the
              territory of the Member States:                                  — in the case of the persons referred to in point (b), the
                                                                                    term of the validity of the status as a permanent
              — a written request from the host organisation                        member of an official delegation,
                  confirming that the person concerned is
                  participating in the event;                                  — in the case of the persons referred to in point (c), the
                                                                                    period of validity of the authorisation for legal
        (p) for representatives of religious communities:                           residence of citizens of Ukraine legally residing in the
                                                                                    European Union,
              — a written request from a religious community
                  registered in Ukraine, stating the purpose,
                                                                               — in the case of the persons referred to in point (d), the
                  duration and frequency of the trips;
                                                                                    term of validity of the status as a representative of the
                                                                                    business organisation or the work contract,
        (q) for participants in official Europan Union cross-
              border cooperation programmes, such as under
              the European Neighbourhood and Partnership                       — in the case of the persons referred to in point (e), the
              Instrument (ENPI):                                                    work contract
              — a written request by the host organisation.’.                  is less than five years.
 ---pagebreak--- 20.6.2013             EN                          Official Journal of the European Union                                          L 168/13
     2.     Diplomatic missions and consular posts of the                      referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article, provided that
     Member States shall issue multiple-entry visas with the                   during the previous two years they have made use of the
     term of validity of one year to the following categories                  one year multiple-entry visas in accordance with the laws
     of persons, provided that during the previous year they                   on entry and stay of the visited State unless the need or
     have obtained at least one visa, have made use of it in                   the intention to travel frequently or regularly is manifestly
     accordance with the laws on entry and stay of the visited                 limited to a shorter period, in which case the term of
     State:                                                                    validity of the multiple-entry visa shall be limited to that
                                                                               period.’.
     (a) drivers conducting international cargo and passenger
         transportation services to the territories of the                 (7) Article 6 shall be amended as follows:
         Member States in vehicles registered in Ukraine;
                                                                               (a) paragraph 3 shall be replaced by the following:
     (b) members of train, refrigerator and locomotive crews in
         international trains, travelling to the territories of the                ‘3.      The Member States shall charge a fee of EUR 70
         Member States;                                                            for processing visas in cases where, based on the
                                                                                   distance between the applicant’s place of residence
                                                                                   and the place where the application has been
     (c) persons participating in scientific, cultural and artistic                submitted, the applicant has requested that a decision
         activities, including university and other exchange                       on the application be taken within three days of its
         programmes, who regularly travel to the Member                            submission, and the consulate has accepted to take a
         States;                                                                   decision within three days.’;
     (d) participants in international sports events and persons               (b) in paragraph 4,
         accompanying them in a professional capacity;
                                                                                     (i) the introductory words shall be replaced by the
     (e) participants in official exchange programmes organised                          following:
         by twin cities and other municipal entities;
                                                                                         ‘4.     Without prejudice to paragraph 5 fees for
     (f) representatives of civil society organisations travelling                       processing the visa application are waived for
         regularly to Member States for the purposes of                                  the following categories of persons:’;
         educational training, seminars, conferences, including
         in the framework of exchange programmes;                                   (ii) in point (a) the following words shall be added:
     (g) for participants in official European Union cross-                              ‘or citizens of the European Union residing in the
         border cooperation programmes, such as under the                                territory of the Member State of which they are
         European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument                               nationals’;
         (ENPI);
                                                                                   (iii) in point (i) the following words shall be added:
     (h) students and post-graduate students who regularly
         travel for the purposes of study or educational                                 ‘and other municipal entities’;
         training, including in the framework of exchange
         programmes;                                                               (iv) in point (j) the following words shall be added:
     (i) for representatives of religious communities:                                   ‘and the technical crew accompanying them in a
                                                                                         professional capacity’;
     (j) for members of the professions participating in inter­
                                                                                    (v) the following points shall be added:
         national exhibitions, conferences, symposia, seminars
         or other similar events held in the territory of the
         Member States;                                                                  ‘(o) representatives of the religious communities;
                                                                                         (p) for members of the professions participating
     (k) persons needing to visit regularly for medical reasons                                in international exhibitions, conferences,
         and necessary accompanying persons.                                                   symposia, seminars or other similar events
                                                                                               held in the territory of the Member States;
     By way of derogation from the first subparagraph, where
     the need or the intention to travel frequently or regularly                         (q) participants aged 25 years or less in seminars,
     is manifestly limited to a shorter period, the term of                                    conferences, sports, cultural or educational
     validity of the multiple-entry visa shall be limited to that                              events, organised by non-profit organisations;
     period.
                                                                                         (r) representatives of civil society organisations
     3.     Diplomatic missions and consular posts of the                                      undertaking trips for the purposes of
     Member States shall issue multiple-entry visas with the                                   educational training, seminars, conferences,
     term of validity of a minimum of two years and a                                          including in the framework of exchange
     maximum of five years to the categories of persons                                        programmes;
 ---pagebreak--- L 168/14              EN                           Official Journal of the European Union                                        20.6.2013
              (s) for participants in official European Union                (9) Article 12(1) shall be amended as follows:
                   cross-border cooperation programmes, such
                   as under the European Neighbourhood and                       (a) in the first sentence the word ‘Community’ shall be
                   Partnership Instrument (ENPI).’;                                  replaced by the word ‘Union’;
         (vi) the following subparagraph shall be added:                         (b) in the second sentence, the word ‘Community’ shall be
                                                                                     replaced by the words ‘European Union’ and the words
              ‘The first subparagraph shall apply also where the                     ‘Commission of the European Communities’ by the
              purpose of the journey is transit.’;                                   words ‘European Commission.’.
     (c) the following paragraph shall be added:                           (10) Article 13 shall be amended as follows:
         ‘5.    If a Member State cooperates with an external                    (a) the existing    paragraph    shall be   numbered    as
         service provider in view of issuing a visa the external                     paragraph 1;
         service provider may charge a service fee. This fee shall
         be proportionate to the costs incurred by the external                  (b) the following paragraph shall be added:
         service provider while performing its tasks and shall
         not exceed EUR 30. The Member States shall maintain                         ‘2.    The provisions of bilateral Agreements or
         the possibility for all applicants to lodge their appli­                    arrangements between individual Member States and
         cations directly at their consulates If applicants are                      Ukraine concluded before the entry into force of this
         required to obtain an appointment for the lodging of                        Agreement providing for the exemption of the holders
         an application the appointment shall, as a rule, take                       of non-biometric service passports from the visa
         place within a period of two weeks from the date                            requirement shall continue to apply without
         when the appointment was requested.’.                                       prejudice to the right of the Member States
                                                                                     concerned or Ukraine to denounce or suspend these
 (8) Article 10 shall be amended as follows:                                         bilateral agreements or arrangements.’.
                                                                                                        Article 2
     (a) the title shall be replaced by the following:
                                                                           This Agreement shall be ratified or approved by the Parties in
         ‘Diplomatic and service passports’;                               accordance with their respective procedures and shall enter into
                                                                           force on the first day of the second month following the date
     (b) in paragraph 2, which shall be renumbered 3, the                  on which the last Party notifies the other that the procedures
         words ‘in paragraph 1’ shall be replaced by the                   referred to above have been completed.
         words ‘in paragraphs 1 and 2’;
     (c) a new paragraph 2 shall be inserted as follows:                   Done at Brussels, on the 23rd day of July in the year two
                                                                           thousand and twelve, in duplicate in the Bulgarian, Czech,
         ‘2.    Citizens of Ukraine who are holders of valid               Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German,
         biometric service passports can enter, leave and                  Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish,
         transit through the territories of the Member States              Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish and
         without visas.’.                                                  Ukrainian languages, each of those texts being equally authentic.
 ---pagebreak--- 20.6.2013        EN                     Official Journal of the European Union L 168/15
          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
          За Європейське Спiвтовариство
          За Украйна
          Por Ucrania
          Za Ukrajinu
          For Ukraine
          Für die Ukraine
          Ukraina nimel
          Για την Ουκρανία
          For Ukraine
          Pour l'Ukraine
          Per l'Ucraina
          Ukrainas vārdā
          Ukrainos vardu
          Ukrajna részéről
          Għall-Ukrajna
          Voor Oekraïne
          W imieniu Ukrainy
          Pela Ucrânia
          Pentru Ucraina
          Za Ukrajinu
          Za Ukrajino
          Ukrainan puolesta
          På Ukrainas vägnar
          За Украïнy
 ---pagebreak--- L 168/16         EN                          Official Journal of the European Union                                      20.6.2013
         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(1)(a) of the Visa Code, in order to ensure that applicants from Ukraine are required to
         submit, in principle, the same supporting documents.
                        EUROPEAN UNION DECLARATION ON FACILITATIONS FOR FAMILY MEMBERS
         The European Union takes note of the suggestion of Ukraine to give a wider definition to the notion of
         family members that should benefit from visa facilitation as well as of the importance that Ukraine 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 Ukraine 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.
 ---pagebreak--- 20.6.2013         EN                          Official Journal of the European Union                                       L 168/17
                        EUROPEAN UNION DECLARATION ON ARTICLE 10 (2) OF THE AGREEMENT
          The European Union may invoke a partial suspension of the Agreement and in particular of Article 10(2), in
          accordance with the procedure set up by Article 14(5) of the Agreement, if the implementation of
          Article 10(2) is abused by Ukraine or leads to a threat to public security. If the implementation of
          Article 10(2) is suspended, the European Union shall initiate consultations in the framework of the
          Committee set up by the Agreement with a view to solving the problems that led to the suspension.
                         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 Ukraine
          conclude, without delay, bilateral agreements on the facilitation of the issuance of short-stay visas in similar
          terms as the amended Agreement.