The FINANCIAL — Plans to grant Georgian citizens the right to travel to the Schengen area without a visa have received the backing of MEPs on the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee.
The Committee on September 5 overwhelmingly approved the opening of negotiations with the European Council on the Georgia proposal, with a view to reaching an agreement at the first reading. Once Parliament and Council endorse the legislative changes, Georgians will be able to enter the EU visa-free for 90 days in any 180-day period, provided they hold a biometric passport, according to EU Neighbourhood Info.
The draft legislative proposals update the 2001 visa regulation, transferring Georgia from the list on non-EU countries whose nationals need a visa to travel to the Schengen area to the list of countries whose nationals are exempt of this requirement.
The EU-Georgia visa liberalisation dialogue started in 2012 and by the end of 2015, the European Commission had concluded that the country had fulfilled all the benchmarks. Mariya Gabriel, Parliament’s rapporteur for the proposal, believes the visa waiver is an important instrument for stepping up economic and cultural relations and intensifying political dialogue, including on human rights and fundamental freedoms.
“More efforts are necessary, however, in areas such as freedom of the media, independence of the judiciary, the fairness of elections and increased participation of women and national minority representatives,” the Parliament’s rapporteur concluded.
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