This issue unites representatives of all political forces without exclusion. Here should be no opposition or authority. We should work together in order to ensure constitutional right of the citizens of Ukraine to freedom of movement,” stressed the Chairman of he Committee Hryhoriy Nemyrya, opening the hearings.
He reminded that today Ukraine is at the final stage – finishing of implementation of the first (legislative) phase of the EU Liberalization Action Plan.
“We should make every effort to finish this stage as soon as possible,” said H.Nemyrya.
Committee Chairman informed that starting from today there is a non-official translation of the text of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement on the Committee’s web site.
In his turn, member of the Committee Petro Poroshenko, stressed that “freedom of movement is one of the key rights of a human”. “Our duty is to ensure this right,” he added.
Scientific Director of the Institute for Euro-Atlantic Cooperation Oleksandr Sushko expressed concern regarding term of fulfillment of EU requirements within the first phase and called people’s deputies to adopt the necessary legislative acts in the sphere of anti-corruption and anti-discrimination legislation.
“The EU requirements are standard, but, unfortunately, Ukraine has fulfilled a little bit more than 80 per cent of these requirements within 2,5 years,” he said.
In this connection, the Committee member Borys Tarasiuk noted that Balkan countries have fulfilled the respective requirements within 2 years, while Ukraine remains on the first stage for almost three years already.
“Millions of Ukrainian citizens wait until they will be able to travel EU countries visa free. We should bring this time closer,” he said.
Head of Civic Initiative Europe without Barriers Iryna Sushko noted that “the process of visa dialogue with the EU moves ahead and the Agreement is the first step in this direction”. She drew attention to a number of problems in this sphere.
Representatives of Ukrainian Government, diplomatic corps, NGOs and experts participated in the hearings. The respective decision was taken, following the results of hearings.