The FINANCIAL — The European Commission (EC) reports that it has proposed to the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament to lift visa requirements for Georgian citizens travelling to the Schengen area.
According to the EC press service, the proposal comes after the Commission gave a positive assessment in December 2015, confirming that Georgia successfully met all benchmarks under the Visa Liberalisation Action Plan.
“Today’s proposal recognises the efforts of the Georgian authorities to carry out far-reaching and difficult reforms with a significant impact on the rule of law and the justice system. I am very satisfied with the progress achieved, and I hope that the European Parliament and the Council will adopt our proposal very soon,” said Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, Dimitris Avramopoulos. Avramopoulos also added that visa-free travel for Georgian citizens to the EU will further facilitate people-to-people contacts and strengthen business, social and cultural ties between the two partners.
According to the EC, once the proposal has been adopted by the European Parliament and the Council, Georgian citizens with biometric passports will no longer require visas when travelling for up to 90 days to the Schengen area. The visa-free travel will apply to all EU Member States except for Ireland and the UK, as well as the four Schengen associated countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland). The exemption concerns only short-stay visas valid for up to 90 days of travel in any 180-day period for business, tourist or family purposes. The visa exemption will not provide for the right to work in the EU.
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