Council Decision (EU) 2017/232 of 7 February 2017 on the conclusion, on behalf of the European Union, of the Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Kiribati on the short-stay visa waiver

What it is

to conclude the Agreement between the European Union and the Kingdom of Kiribati on the short-stay visa waiver. ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: Council may adopt the act only if Parliament has given its consent to the act. BACKGROUND: Regulation (EU) No 509/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council amended Regulation (EC) No 539/2001 listing the third countries whose nationals must be in possession of visas when crossing the external borders of the Member States and those whose nationals are exempt from that requirement. The Regulation was adopted on 20 May 2014 and entered into force on 9 June 2014. In July 2014, the Commission presented a Recommendation to the Council to authorise it to start negotiations on visa waiver agreements with each of the following 17 countries : Dominica, Grenada, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, the United Arab Emirates and Vanuatu. On 9 October 2014, the Council addressed negotiating directives to the Commission PURPOSE: to conclude the Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Kiribati on the short-stay visa waiver. The Regulation, adopted on 20 May 2014, entered into force on 9 June 2014. It is applied by all Member States, with the exception of Ireland and the United Kingdom. The first series of visa waiver agreements were signed on 6 May 2015 (United Arab Emirates), 26 May 2015 (Timor-Leste) and 28 May 2015 (Dominica, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Trinidad and Tobago and Vanuatu) and provisionally apply from the date of signature pending their entry into force. The negotiations with Kiribati were opened on 17 December 2014. The agreement was initialled by an exchange of letters between the chief negotiators on 6 May 2015 (Kiribati) and 10 June 2015 (Union). CONTENT: the Commission proposed that the Council adopt a decision to approve the Agreement between the European Union and Kiribati on the short-stay visa waiver. Purpose and duration of the Agreement : the Agreement provides for visa-free travel for the citizens of the European Union and for the citizens of Kiribati when travelling to the territory of the other Contracting Party for a maximum period of 90 days in any 180-day period . A joint declaration on the interpretation of this period of 90 days in any 180-day period is attached to the agreement. A provision has been included stating that Kiribati may suspend or terminate the agreement only in respect of all the Member States of the European Union and that the Union may also only suspend or terminate the agreement in respect of all of its Member States. Scope : the visa waiver covers all categories of persons (holders of ordinary, diplomatic, service/official and special passports) travelling for all kinds of purposes, except for the purpose of carrying out a paid activity . For this latter category, each Member State and also Kiribati remain free to impose the visa requirement on the citizens of the other Party in accordance with the applicable Union or national law. A joint declaration is…

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