Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-09-16-Speech-3-180"
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"en.20090916.17.3-180"2
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"Mr President, moving quickly on geographically to discuss another area that I am again very pleased to address: the prospects of visa liberalisation for certain countries in the Balkan region. It is excellent that the European Parliament is addressing this at such an early stage in its period of office. It shows how important we all believe it to be that the people of the Western Balkans are brought closer to the European Union. It is undoubtedly the most important issue for the citizens of the Balkan region as far as their present links with the EU are concerned.
Where Kosovo is concerned, the Commission’s proposal involves no change. Here, the visa requirement will remain for the time being. In the future, we will have to look at how the measures can best be extended in order to give the citizens of Kosovo the same rights as others in the region. Here we are awaiting a communication from the Commission in October containing ideas for encouraging deeper cooperation and links with Kosovo.
The Council has only just begun its discussions on the Commission’s proposal, but the Presidency will work hard to ensure that we can reach agreement as soon as possible. We welcome the great interest that the European Parliament has shown in this proposal and the fact that initial discussions are already taking place in your committees. In view of the incredible significance of this proposal politically, I am sure that we are in agreement on the goal, which is to conclude this process as quickly as possible with satisfactory results, so that visa liberalisation can become a reality as soon as possible.
Visa liberalisation will firstly make it possible for people to move more freely throughout Europe and will create more open societies. Many people in the region – particularly young people – have never been to Western Europe, and naturally visa liberalisation would open up a range of opportunities for contacts and exchanges. That is the real benefit of this initiative.
In 2007, the EU embarked upon a process intended to result in visa requirements being removed for the countries of the Western Balkans. There are two aspects to this process: the countries themselves had to make significant progress as regards the reliability of documentation, better legislation on migration, improved rights for minorities and, not least, the fight against corruption and organised crime. In return, the EU would offer visa-free travel. Visa facilitation was introduced back in January 2008, linked to commitments in the areas to be addressed. However, only genuine visa liberalisation will enable the economic and bureaucratic barriers erected by visa obligations to be removed.
Liberalisation of the visa requirements that apply to citizens of the Western Balkans is an important measure that will strengthen ties between this region and the European Union. We can expect this to stimulate a pro-European attitude among both the governments and the peoples of the region, because it shows that the European integration process has real advantages. Continued isolation, on the other hand, would lead to a feeling of exclusion and prevent exchanges of ideas and, in the worst case, could foster narrow-minded nationalism.
Obviously, our aim is the opposite: to open up the EU, to provide the countries with access to Community programmes, to make it easier for people to be in contact and to promote development and exchanges both between the countries of the Western Balkans and between these countries and the EU. Not least, visa liberalisation will create new opportunities for trade, industry and transfer of know-how. These are important elements in alleviating the consequences of the economic crisis.
Consequently, the Commission’s proposal that was submitted on 15 July is very much to be welcomed. It is proposed that in a first step, the visa requirement will be removed for citizens of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia, which have biometric passports. The aim is that on 1 January 2010, we will liberalise the visa requirements for these citizens and later extend this to other countries once they also meet the conditions required. The Commission has assessed that three countries – Serbia, Montenegro and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia – by and large already meet the conditions for visa liberalisation. The appraisal of Serbia and Montenegro is continuing and we hope that by this autumn, we will have confirmation from the Commission that all the conditions are met, so that we can take the next step.
I must emphasise that many of the conditions that we have set for liberalisation, such as reform of the police system and combating corruption, will also benefit the countries in their preparations for EU membership and thus create a situation in which everyone wins as far as harmonisation of the rules is concerned. It also provides a good example of how the principle of conditionality can work in the Western Balkans.
Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina will not be included in this first decision on visa exemption, but they are not being left in the lurch. I know that that is a matter of concern to many in this House. It is only a matter of time before these countries also meet the necessary conditions in the Commission’s roadmap. In order that the process can be concluded as soon as possible, we are continuing to emphatically support and encourage Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina to make further progress on the remaining targets, and I hope that they, too, will be able to benefit from visa liberalisation in the near future.
The EU will do all it can to help and support these two countries in their efforts to achieve their objectives, particularly as regards the rule of law."@en1
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