PURPOSE: to
sign and conclude a Readmission Agreement between the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) and the Community.
PROPOSED ACT:
Council Decision.
BACKGROUND:
the 2003 Thessaloniki Summit on the Western Balkans recognised the importance
of giving due recognition to matters concerning illegal immigration and the
issuing of visas. The “Thessaloniki Agenda”, accordingly recognised the need
for the EU to conclude Readmission Agreements with the countries of the
Western Balkans, including the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. In
November 2006 the Council formally authorised the Commission to negotiate a
Readmission Agreement with the FYROM to be negotiated alongside an Agreement
on the issuance of short-stay visas. See CNS/2007/0159. The Member States have been regularly
informed and consulted throughout the negotiating process.
CONTENT: the
purpose of this proposal, therefore, is to request the Council to sign and
conclude an Agreement between the Community and the FYROM on Readmission. The
Commission is of the view that the objectives set by the Council in its
negotiating Directives have been attained and that the draft Readmission
Agreement is acceptable to the Community. The draft Agreement with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has been, as far as possible, harmonised with the
draft Readmission Agreements of the other Western Balkans countries.
The main
elements of the proposal can be summarised as follows:
- the
Agreement has been divided into eight sections with 23 Articles. It
contains seven Annexes and six Declarations, all of which form an
integral part of the overall Agreement;
- the
readmission obligations are fully reciprocal and comprise of own
nationals, third country nationals and stateless persons – including
those of the FYROM and the former nationals of the Socialist Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia who have acquired no other nationality. A joint declaration
concerning the deprivation of nationality is attached to the proposed
Agreement;
- this
obligation to readmit own nationals extends to former own national who
have renounced, or who have been deprived of, their nationality without
acquiring the nationality of another State;
- the
obligation to readmit own nationals covers family members (i.e. spouses
and minor unmarried children) who hold a nationality other than the
person to be readmitted and who do not have an independent right of
residence in the Requesting State;
- the
obligation to readmit third country nationals and stateless persons is
linked to a number of prerequisites, such as: the person concerned
holds, or at the time of entry held, a valid visa or resident permit
issued by the Requested State; or the person concerned illegally and
directly entered the territory of the Requesting State after having
stayed on or transited through he territory of the Requested State.
Those in airside transit and all persons to whom the Requesting State has issued a visa or residence authorisation before or after entry to
its territory are exempted from these obligations;
- former
nationals of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia who have
acquired no other nationality will be treated as a separate category. It
is proposed that their readmission will be accepted by the FYROM on
condition that firstly, their place of birth was on FYROM’s territory
and secondly their place of permanent residence on the date of
independence (8 September 1991) was on the territory of that State. It
is worth noting that the specific conditions for the readmission of this
category of person was applied horizontally in all of the Readmission
Agreement with the other Western Balkan countries;
- the FYROM
agrees to accept the use of the EU’s standard travel documents for
expulsion purposes – both for own nationals as well as for third country
nationals or stateless persons;
- Section III
sets out the necessary technical provisions regarding the readmission
procedure. One important procedural element regarding this proposal is
the so-called “accelerated” procedure, which has been agreed upon
for persons apprehended in the border region i.e. within an area which
extends up to 30 km from the common land border between a Member State and the FYROM or within the territories of International airports of
Member States of the FYROM. Under the accelerated procedure, readmission
applications have to be submitted, and replies have to given, within 2
working days, whereas under the normal procedure the time limit for
replies is 14 calendar days;
- a section on
transit operations is foreseen as are sections on costs, data protection
and relationship to other international obligations;
- the FYROM,
as well as individual Member States, will be allowed to conclude bilateral
implementing Protocols.
The United Kingdom and Ireland have notified their wish to take part in the adoption and application of
this Agreement. Denmark, however, will not.