On Thursday 2 March, the permanent representatives of the EU member states gave their green light to the visa liberalisation regime for Ukrainian nationals.
An agreement with the European Parliament was found during the evening of 28 February. Once the change has entered into force and the Ukrainians have biometric passports, they will be able to stay in the EU for a maximum of 90 days in a period of 180 days for professional, tourism or family reasons.
The agreement now needs to be approved by the whole of the European Parliament's civil liberties committee before being formally adopted by the Council of Ministers.
Before granting this visa waiver, the member states reviewed the suspension mechanism in order to facilitate the reintroduction of visas in exceptional cases. This review was approved by the Council on Monday 27 February (see EUROPE 11734). The legislation was signed by European Parliament President Antonio Tajani and representatives of the Maltese Presidency of the EU Council on 1 March and will enter into force 20 days after its publication in the Official Journal of the EU.
On Monday, the ministers also gave their definitive green light to the visa liberalisation regime for Georgians. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)