BISS analyst Andrei Yeliseyeu presented the report “How will the Belarusians benefit from changes in the EU visa regulations?” at a roundtable conference on 26 June. The event entitled “Simplified visa regime between the EU and Belarus: expectations and prospects” was organized by the public campaign “To Belarus and Europe — WITHOUT A VISA!”
Andrei Yeliseyeu’s report centered on the legislative initiative of the European Commission proposed in April 2014. If the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament support the liberal proposal by the European Commission, then starting next year, citizens of Belarus and other countries of the world that have a visa regime with the EU will be able to enter the Schengen area enjoying a simplified procedure. Specifically, it is proposed to expedite the issuance of Schengen visas and clarify rules for obtaining visas, abolish the requirement to have a medical insurance, encourage consulates to issue multiple three-year visas for frequent travelers, cancel visa fees for minor applicants and allow a special procedure to issue a visa on the state border valid for up to 15 days. The speaker noted that such amendments to the EU Visa Code would require Belarus and the European Union to adjust the text of the Visa Facilitation towards a more liberal version than currently planned.
Other speakers at the roundtable event included head of the Ukrainian NGO “Europe without Barriers” Iryna Sushko and Director of the National Union of Tourist Organizations Valiancin Cechmiejscier. Representative of the EU Delegation to Belarus Rudolf Richard shared the EU’s vision on visa regime facilitation.
