European Parliament adopted on Thursday the proposal on visa liberalization for Georgia, enabling the biometric passport holders to enter the Schengen area for 90 days within any 180-day period for a holiday, business or any other purpose, except working.
Georgian civil.ge news portal reports, the proposal was approved with 553 votes in favor, 66 against and 28 abstentions.
According to the source, Parliament and Council negotiators reached an agreement on the legislation on December 13. According to the agreement, the visa free regime will be enforced for Georgian citizens simultaneously with the visa suspension mechanism, which allows EU member states to temporarily reintroduce visa requirements for reasons of public security.
The legislation will now be submitted to the Council for its approval.
The EU-Georgia Visa Liberalization Dialogue was launched in June 2012.
In its fourth and final progress report, adopted on December 18, 2015, the Commission considered that Georgia had made the necessary progress and had undertaken all the required reforms to ensure the effective and sustainable achievement of the remaining benchmarks.