Today we have had the pleasure to welcome the Prime Minister of Georgia Mr. Giorgi Kvirikashvili and discuss the next steps of the visa liberalisation process.
In December, we adopted the fourth and last progress report on Georgia’s implementation of the action plan on visa liberalisation.
As you know, we concluded that Georgia has met the benchmarks set out and we committed to present a legislative proposal to lift visa requirements for Georgian citizens holding a biometric passport in early 2016.
The hard work of the Georgian authorities over the past three years towards achieving this important goal for the benefit of the Georgian citizens has given positive results.
The Commission is now preparing the legislative proposals to the Member States and the European Parliament.
The timing of the actual visa-free travel of the Georgian citizens will depend on when the final decision will be taken by the Council and the European Parliament, once our proposal will be presented.
The Prime Minister informed us today that an information campaign is already in place about the conditions of the visa waiver.
I am looking forward to visit Georgia early March to discuss the next steps.