Brussels – The European Commission looks forward to Ukraine's report on the fulfillment of the first phase of the EU-Ukraine Visa Liberalization Action Plan (VLAP) and says that the fulfillment of the Action Plan's first phase, required for advancing to the second phase, cannot in any way be linked to the upcoming EU-Ukraine Summit.
“The commission looks forward to the report to be submitted by Ukraine on the fulfillment of the first phase. Further to the submission of the Ukrainian Report, and all the outstanding legislative framework, the commission will assess them in order to adopt its report. It follows that there is currently no date for issuing the commission report on the fulfillment of the first phase of the VLAP and for advancing to the second phase. This will depend mainly on the pace of progress made by Ukraine and cannot in any way be linked with the summit to take place on February 25,” reads the commission’s answer to an Interfax-Ukraine enquiry.
The commission stressed that “good progress has been made and Ukraine is addressing the remaining first phase benchmarks.”
“Visa dialogues are step-by-step processes, based on substance and progress in the implementation of the benchmarks of relevant Action Plans,” the Commission said.
“Currently Ukraine still has some important gaps to fill in order to finalize the first phase of the Visa Liberalization Action Plan (on anti-corruption, anti-discrimination and minorities and data protection legislative and policy framework),” reads the commission’s answer.
“There is no indication when Ukraine will fulfill all the benchmark of the VLAP, and consequently for the legislative process leading to visa free travel (i.e. for the commission to make a proposal to the European Parliament and to the Council to lift the short-stay visa obligation for Ukrainian citizens),” reads the letter.
In connection with this, the commission stressed that it cannot indicate when the visa free regime with Ukraine will be in place.
“The EU objective is that it will be in place “in due course,” reads the commission’s letter.
Earlier, independent MP Petro Poroshenko, in an interview on Channel 5, said that a document on the completion of the first phase of the Action Plan could be signed during the EU-Ukraine Summit on February 25.
“On February 25, in less than a month and a half, Ukraine is to receive a conclusion on the completion of the first [phase], and pass to the implementation stage,” he said.
