May 19, 2010, committee hearing on “Regulatory provision of visa-free regime between Ukraine and the European Union” was held. The event was organized by the Committee of European Integration of Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and Civic Initiative “Europe without Barriers”, which is supported by the European Program of the International Renaissance Foundation.
The purpose of the committee hearing was to discuss the situation and determine the prospects of the “visa dialogue” between Ukraine and the European Union.
Members of Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, representatives of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, ministries and departments, State Border Service and non-governmental organizations participated in the hearing.
In an opening speech, Chairman of the Committee of European Integration of Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Borys Tarasyuk said that the issue of migration and visa in the relations between Ukraine and the EU has always been in the center of attention, because it concerns not only the parliament and government but also every citizen of Ukraine that aspires to exercise their right to free movement. Borys Tarasyuk noted that the Agreement on visa facilitation, which entered into force on January 1, 2008, was the first step towards liberalization of visa regime, but it did not manage to overcome “discomfort” for the citizens of Ukraine, related to the extension of the Schengen area. Neither local border traffic regime could compensate the losses – consular offices of individual countries either ignore the provisions of the Agreement on visa facilitation or interpret them not in favour of Ukrainian citizens.
Thus, the first hearing on “visa dialogue” between Ukraine and the EU, which took place in June 2008, according to the Chairman of the Committee of European Integration of Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, found five systematic violations of the Agreement – complication of the visa issuance procedure, excess fees, unjustified denial of visas, the requirement of additional documents, refusal to issue long-term visas to eligible categories of citizens under the Agreement provisions. In general, inappropriate attitude of consular staff to the citizens of Ukraine creates a negative atmosphere around the EU-Ukraine relations and allows politicians to speculate on this “painful” issue. In particular, ideas concerning the abolition of non-visa entry for the EU citizens, provided in two draft bills, will not bring visa-free regime with the EU closer to Ukraine, according to Mr Tarasyuk.
Borys Tarasyuk also said that he constantly informs his colleagues from the European Parliament during sittings of the Committee on Parliamentary Cooperation (CPC) between Ukraine and EU about the problems in this area. At present, the working group of CPC on visa policy between Ukraine and the EU, according to Mr Tarasyuk, is preparing a final report on promotion of visa-free regime between Ukraine and the EU, which will be presented for discussion in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and European Parliament. Chairman of the Committee of European integration of Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine noted that the main reason why the EU “road map” on abolition of visas for Ukrainian citizens has not been adopted yet is imperfectness of the Ukrainian legislation. That is why after the meeting with Commissioner Stefan Füle who presented the list of necessary reforms to the Ukrainian authorities, Borys Tarasyuk sent a letter to the President of Ukraine with request to foster as soon as possible ratification of the Council of Europe Convention No108 concerning protection of personal data and Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings, as well as adoption of the law on personal data protection.
Deputy Prime Minister Serhiy Tihipko said that European integration is the main foreign policy vector for the Ukrainian authorities. Mr. Tihipko also said that the government developed the general plan of activities for integration of Ukraine into the EU for 2010, which will systematize activities of different ministries and departments. At present, he said, a number of important laws for the relations between Ukraine and the EU are being worked out, including changes to the law on government procurement, law on a single regulator of public utilities rates, changes in customs legislation etc. Apart from that, the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized that Ukraine needs to develop its own road map on visa facilitation and implement it. According to Mr. Tihipko, this will demonstrate Ukraine’s aspiration to meet EU criteria. Deputy Prime Minister also called on parliamentarians and NGOs to implement together best international practices and fight for the quality of legislation.
Oleksandr Sushko, a member of the Joint Committee of Experts on the implementation of the visa facilitation Agreement between the EU and Ukraine, a leading expert of “Europe without Barriers”, noted that currently the European Union reconsiders its sceptical position on implementation of a visa free regime for Ukrainian citizens. In particular, it is manifested in the recommendation of the European Commission to consider providing the “road map” to Ukraine and Moldova, which is included in a paper on the anniversary of the Eastern Partnership. According to Mr. Sushko, introduction of visa-free regime with Ukraine will be a political solution that will be given in terms of conformity with technical criteria – from legislative provision to the implementation of adopted laws. Among the most important steps of Ukraine towards the liberalization of visa regime with the EU, Oleksandr Sushko noted the need to ratify the above mentioned Council of Europe conventions; the establishment of the agency in charge of collecting and storing of personal information; regulation of the term “asylum” in migration legislation, adoption of the law on State Migration Service.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Pavlo Klimkin said that during the last sitting of the Joint Visa Committee, Ukraine and the EU have not come to agreement on the amendments to the Agreement on visa facilitation according to the Visa Code. For the European Union, according to Mr. Klimkin, the key issues are legitimization of outsourcing centers that work at consular offices, for Ukraine – unification of visa issuance procedures and unification of documents. Another extremely important issue for the Ukrainian side is possibility for lifting the visa fee (currently it is only about national visas). Pavlo Klimkin also emphasized that the issue of visa regime liberalization is purely political for many EU countries, because previously this process was carried out only for those states which have a European perspective. Besides, Deputy Foreign Minister said, it is worth remembering about special attitudes of some EU member-states to the introduction of visa-free regime with Ukraine. Therefore, according to Mr. Klimkin, Ukraine utterly needs internal draft on key reforms, without implementation of which no political impetus to the dialogue on the “road map” granting is likely, because the adoption of the “road map” means working according to the logic – first technique, then – politics. Speaking about the terms for implementation of all needed reforms, Pavlo Klimkin noted that most Balkan countries managed to introduce reforms over 3-4 years, under conditions of necessary efforts concentration.
First Deputy Head of State Border Service of Ukraine Pavlo Shysholin mentioned the issue of documents security among the major challenges on Ukraine’s way towards visa regime liberalization with the EU – foreign passports of old pattern, which by 70-80% cannot be read off, do not stand up to scrutiny in terms of security and create lines on the borders. Equally important, according to Mr. Shysholin, is the need to tackle the infrastructure issue, because only a small part of the checkpoints on the Ukrainian borders meet modern standards.
Contact information: Iryna Sushko, iryna_sushko@ukr.net, Oleksandr Sushko, sushko@cpcfpu.org.ua
Source: eu.prostir.ua
