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REPORT (COM(2023)0733 – C90412/2023 – 2023/0418(COD))

On the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU) 2018/1806 as regards holders of Serbian passports issued by the Serbian Coordination Directorate (Koordinaciona uprava)

A-9-2024-0172

Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs · Rapporteur: Matjaž Nemec

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Written by a language model from the full text only; every figure comes from the text. The paragraph links open the paragraph a statement rests on — check the text itself before relying on it.

Parliament's committee report takes over the Commission proposal to amend Regulation (EU) 2018/1806 so that holders of Serbian passports issued by the Serbian Coordination Directorate are exempt from the visa requirement for short stays. The exemption would cover stays of no more than 90 days in any 180-day period when crossing the external borders of the member states. The report explains that these holders would otherwise remain the only citizens in the Western Balkan region still required to have a visa. The rapporteur welcomes the proposal and supports its speedy adoption without amendments.

Committee position. The rapporteur welcomes the Commission proposal and supports its speedy adoption in Parliament without amendments in the current parliamentary term, treating the matter as technical and leaving politics aside.

Key points

  1. Parliament adopts its position at first reading, taking over the Commission proposal.
  2. Parliament calls on the Commission to refer the matter to Parliament again if it replaces, substantially amends or intends to substantially amend its proposal.
  3. The proposal amends Regulation (EU) 2018/1806 to exempt holders of Serbian passports issued by the Serbian Coordination Directorate from the visa requirement for stays of no more than 90 days in any 180-day period.
  4. The Serbian Coordination Directorate was set up during the visa liberalisation dialogue with Serbia to replace seven regional police directorates that had issued passports to Kosovo Serbs; its passports are biometric.
  5. Visa requirements were abolished for Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia in 2009, for Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2010 and for Kosovo in 2023.
  6. Removing the exclusion would put the whole Western Balkan region under the same visa regime.
  7. The rapporteur says the EU must now resolve a problem it largely helped create, and that the 2008 distinction for passports of Serbians living in Kosovo was unwise and lacked safeguards for its eventual end.
  8. The rapporteur notes that the lack of progress in normalising relations between Serbia and Kosovo, and the fact that they do not mutually recognise each other's documents, has contributed to the issue.
  9. The rapporteur considers that the remaining visa requirement for these holders constitutes discrimination, which should be prohibited and immediately remedied.
  10. The rapporteur says the proposal should not try to resolve the dispute between Serbia and Kosovo and should be treated as a technical issue.
  11. The rapporteur welcomes the Commission proposal and supports its speedy adoption in Parliament without amendments in the current parliamentary term.

Who is affected

  • Holders of Serbian passports issued by the Serbian Coordination Directorate: would be exempt from the visa requirement for short stays.
  • Serbian residents of Kosovo with such passports: the report says they remain the last visa-required category in the Western Balkans.
  • The Commission: asked to refer the matter to Parliament again if it substantially amends its proposal.

Figures and deadlines

  • Stays of no more than 90 days in any 180-day period are covered by the proposed visa exemption.
  • The Commission presented the proposal on 16 November 2023.
  • Kosovo was included in part 2 of Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 539/2001 in 2009.
  • The Commission launched a visa liberalisation dialogue with Kosovo on 19 January 2012.
  • On 14 June 2012 the Commission presented a roadmap to Kosovo.
  • On 4 May 2016 the Commission proposed transferring Kosovo to Annex II of Regulation (EC) No 539/2001.
  • The proposal was agreed and adopted on 19 April 2023 as Regulation (EU) 2023/850.
  • The visa exemption was not to apply until ETIAS starts operations or until 1 January 2024, whichever comes first.

Legal basis: Article 294(2) and Article 77(2), point (a), of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.