PURPOSE: to conclude an Agreement between the European
Union and Azerbaijan aiming to facilitate the issuance of
visas.
PROPOSED ACT: Council Decision.
BACKGROUND: in the context of the Warsaw Eastern
Partnership Summit Declaration of 30 September 2011, the EU and the
partner countries confirmed their political support for enhancing
the mobility of citizens in a secure and well-managed environment
and reaffirmed their intention to take gradual steps towards a visa
free regime for their citizens in due course.
On that basis the Commission presented on 16 September
2011, a recommendation to the Council in order to authorise the
Commission to open negotiations with Azerbaijan on a Visa
Facilitation Agreement.
Following the authorisation given by the Council on 19
December 2011, the negotiations with Azerbaijan on the Agreement
were opened in Baku on 1 March 2012 and continued until 13 March
2013 in Brussels. The final text of the Agreement was initialled in
Brussels on 29 July 2013 by the chief negotiators.
Member States have been regularly informed and
consulted in the relevant Council Working Groups at all stages of
the negotiations.
The Commission considers that the objectives set by
the Council in its negotiating directives were attained and that
the draft Agreement is acceptable to the Union. The European
Parliament needs to give its consent to the Agreement.
It is necessary now to conclude the Agreement on
behalf of the EU.
CONTENT: the proposed decision provides that the
Council conclude, on behalf of the EU, the Agreement between the EU
and Azerbaïdjan on visa facilitation.
Terms of the Agreement:
the main provisions are as follows:
- for all visa applicants, a decision on whether or not
to issue a visa will have to be taken within 10 calendar days. This
period may be extended up to 30 calendar days when further scrutiny
is needed. In urgent cases, the period for taking a decision may be
reduced to two working days or less. As a rule, the visa applicants
can have an appointment for lodging their application within a
period of two weeks from the date of request and in cases of
urgency immediately or without an appointment;
- the visa fee for
processing applications shall amount to EUR 35. This fee
will be applied to all visa applicants and concerns both single and
multiple-entry visas. Moreover, certain categories of persons
benefit from a full waiver of the visa fee: pensioners, close
relatives, members of official delegations participating in
government activities, pupils, students (including postgraduate
students), persons with disabilities, journalists and the technical
crew accompanying them, representatives of civil society
organisations, children under the age of 12, humanitarian cases and
persons participating in scientific, cultural, artistic activities
and sport events;
- the documents to be
presented regarding the purpose of the journey have been
simplified for some categories of persons: close relatives,
business people, members of official delegations, pupils, students
and post-graduate students, participants in scientific, cultural
and sporting events, journalists, persons visiting military and
civil burials, representatives of civil society, members of the
professions, drivers conducting international cargo and passenger
transportation services, participants in official exchange
programmes of twin cities and persons visiting for medical reasons.
For these categories of persons, only the documents listed in the
Agreement may be requested for justifying the purpose of the
journey. No other justification, invitation or validation provided
for by the legislation of the Member States or Azerbaijan will be
required;
- simplified criteria for
issuing multiple-entry visas for the following categories of
persons: (i) for permanent members of official delegations and
spouses and children visiting citizens of the EU legally residing
in the territory of Azerbaijan or citizens of Azerbaijan legally
residing in the Member States or EU citizens residing in the
territory of the Member States of which they are nationals or
citizens of Azerbaijan residing in the territory of Azerbaijan:
visas valid for five years (or shorter, limited to the period of
the validity of their mandate or authorisation for legal
residence); (ii) participants in scientific, cultural, official
exchange programmes and sport events, journalists, students,
business people, members of official delegations, representatives
of civil society, members of the professions and drivers, provided
that during the previous two years they have made good use of 1
year multiple-entry visas and the reasons for requesting a
multiple-entry are still valid: visas valid for a minimum of two
years and a maximum of 5 years are issued;
Other provisions: these are as follows:
- a protocol addresses the specific situation of Member
States that do not yet fully apply the Schengen acquis and their
unilateral recognition of Schengen visas and residence permits
issued to citizens of Azerbaijan for the purpose of transit through
their territory in accordance with Council Decision N°
582/2008/EC;
- a Joint Declaration is attached to the Agreement on
the implementation of Article 10 on diplomatic
passports;
- a Joint Declaration is attached to the Agreement on
cooperation on travel documents and regular exchange of information
on travel document security;
- a Joint Declaration reaffirming that the Agreement
does not affect the ability of individual Member States and
Azerbaijan to conclude bilateral Visa Waiver Agreements for holders
of service passports.
Territorial provisions:
the specific situations of Denmark, the United Kingdom and Ireland
are reflected in the preamble. The close association of Iceland,
Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the implementation,
application and development of the Schengen acquis is reflected in
a Joint Declaration to the Agreement.