Visa policies were brought within the (then) European Community framework with the Maastricht Treaty, concretely, the determination of the third countries whose nationals must be in possession of visas when crossing the external borders of the member states, and the establishment of a standard model visa. The Amsterdam Treaty (1997) then broke ground for an expansion of the EU’s visa policy. It was pooled in the newly introduced Title IV ‘Visas, Asylum, Immigration and other Policies related to free movements of persons’, and brought under the legal framework of the Community. In addition, the Schengen acquis was annexed to the treaty, so that harmonisation measures regarding visas upon which the Schengen members have agreed outside the Community now became part of the Union’s legal framework.
The EaP states are on the EU’s negative visa list. Currently, they are at different stages concerning visa facilitation and readmission agreements (VFRAs), signed and in force in the case of Moldova, Ukraine, and most recently Georgia. It is important to note that the VFRAs ease the application procedure only for certain categories of applicants (such as business people, journalists, drivers of international cargo and passenger transportation services, students, some others), not for ordinary citizens such as tourists. In the EU visa facilitation and readmission agreements with Ukraine and Moldova, the EU recognises the “introduction of a visa free travel regime […] as a long-term objective”.
The EU agreed a visa “action plan” with Ukraine on 22 November 2010 and with Moldova on 24 January 2011.
