2024-03-05T17:30:00+02:00 Politics 2024-09-15T04:37:41+03:00

Ukrainian news

European Commission proposes to continue "transport visa-free" with Ukraine, but with number of changes in agr

European Commission proposes to continue "transport visa-free" with Ukraine, but with number of changes in agreement

The European Commission proposed to the member states of the European Union to continue the "transport visa-free" operation with Ukraine, but to do so with the introduction of a number of changes to the agreement.

This is stated in a publication published on the website of the European Commission.

The text of the publication states that the European Commission has drawn conclusions on the implementation of the current "transport visa-free", as well as on the exchange of views with Ukraine, EU member states and other interested parties.

Although the scope of the "transport visa-free" agreement will remain the same, the European Commission proposes to make a number of changes.

The proposal of the European Commission provides for:

1. Make it mandatory to have documents that confirm that the transport operator is duly authorized to carry out international transportation and that transportation is carried out in accordance with the agreement.
2. Make mandatory the presence of special documents certifying that the non-cargo operation is directly related to the transit or bilateral operation, as required under the agreement.
3. Strengthen compliance by road transport operators with obligations related to operations permitted under the agreement, fight against fraud or forgery of driver's documents and violations of traffic rules related to safety. Such violations may lead to license revocation.
4. Add a new safeguard clause: if there is a serious breach in the national trucking market in a certain geographic area that could be related to the agreement. The Agreement may be terminated in this geographic area.

The European Commission believes that the above-mentioned measures will make it possible to continue the implementation of the "transport visa-free" agreement without prejudice to the mutual benefit of Ukraine and the EU member states.

It is emphasized that the proposals are currently under consideration by the European Council. It should give the European Commission a mandate to conduct negotiations with Ukraine.

"As soon as the European Council gives the European Commission these mandates, it will officially contact our partner countries for their consent," the text of the publication reads.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on January 31, it became known that the European Commission proposed to extend "economic visa-free" with Ukraine until June 2025.