Second report under the Visa Suspension Mechanism

Summary:

On 19 December 2018 the European Commission presented a report on the second assessment carried out under the strengthened visa suspension mechanism for the 8 countries benefitting from visa-free travel under the visa liberalisation scheme.

Further information:

This report follows up on the Commission's obligation under the strengthened visa suspension mechanism, adopted in March 2017, to monitor the continuous fulfilment of visa liberalisation requirements by third countries and to report to the European Parliament and the Council at least once a year. The first report was issued in December 2017.

The assessment of the visa liberalisation benchmarks applies to countries which have successfully concluded visa liberalisation dialogues according to relevant action plans and roadmaps, i.e. Western Balkan countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia) and Eastern Partnership countries (Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine).

The report focuses on the areas where further work is necessary to achieve sustainable progress. It shows that the visa liberalisation requirements for the concerned countries continue to be met but that action – in some cases immediate – is required for a number of countries in specific areas to ensure this continues to be the case.

Official

EUR-Lex: SWD(2018)496: Commission Staff Working Document accompanying COM(2018)856 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=SWD:2018:496:FIN

European Commission: Press Release, 19/12/2018: Visa liberalisation: Commission reports on fulfilment of visa-free requirements by Western Balkans and Eastern Partnership countries http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-18-6819_en.htm

European Commission: Fact Sheet, 19/12/2018: Report on the fulfilment of visa-free requirements [Q&A] http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-18-6820_en.htm

---