Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council. Second report on progress by Kosovo in fulfilling the requirements of the visa liberalisation roadmap

The European Commission launched a visa liberalisation dialogue with Kosovo on 19 January 2012. On 14 June 2012, it handed over to the Kosovo Government a roadmap on visa liberalisation. This roadmap identifies all the legislation and other measures that Kosovo needs to adopt and implement to advance towards visa liberalisation.

On 8 February 2013, the Commission adopted the first report on progress by Kosovo in the visa dialogue. This report contained an assessment of progress made by Kosovo, recommendations to the Kosovo authorities and statistical data about the expected migratory and security impacts of the visa-free regime. On 12 February 2013, the Commission held the second Senior Officials’ Meeting with Kosovo. The third and fourth meetings took place, respectively, on 29 July 2013 and 16 June 2014.

This is the second report setting out the Commission’s assessment of Kosovo’s progress in fulfilling the requirements of the visa roadmap. It summarises the most relevant developments concerning the adoption or amendment of legislation and the implementation thereof, with appropriate recommendations for the Government. It is accompanied by a Commission Staff Working Document (CSWD), which elaborates at greater length the developments described in this report. The CSWD also addresses the expected security and migratory impacts of visa liberalisation.

The report and the CSWD draw upon the reports submitted by the Kosovo Government, reports drafted by EU Member States’ experts participating in assessment missions in December 2013 and March 2014, information received from the EU Office in Kosovo, and EULEX, as well as statistical data compiled by Eurostat and submitted by Member States.

The report and the CSWD formulate recommendations in policy areas where further reforms, both legislative and implementation-related, are required for visa liberalisation.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: Commission assesses progress by Kosovo in visa dialogue http://www.europeansources.info/record/press-release-commission-assesses-progress-by-kosovo-in-visa-dialogue/

EUR-Lex: COM(2014)488: Follow the progress of this report through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2014:488:FIN

EUR-Lex: SWD(2014)251: Commission Staff Working Document accompanying the report http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=SWD:2014:251:FIN

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