Does it really matter? Visa facilitation in the Western Balkans: Monitoring of the new agreements

Here is the draft programme of the conference:

08:30 - 09:00 Registration

09:00 - 09:30 Keynote address: Jacques Barrot, Vice President of the European Commission, Responsible for Justice, Freedom and Security (TBC)

Discussion Q&A

09:30 - 10:45 Panel 1: Presentations of the findings of the hotline and survey reports on visa facilitation in Western Balkans

Issues for debate:

• What are the convergences in the survey and hotline results in the five countries?
• Have the visa facilitation agreements done their homework ? triggered people to people contacts among citizens of the EU and Western Balkans?
• What are the main findings of the analysis of surveys accomplished with visa applicants? Do both reports draw the same conclusions?
• Have the advantages come through: multiple entry visas, easier access to the special categories of population, lower issuing costs, etc?
• Are the visa facilitation agreements worth amending? What mechanism could be put in place to evaluate and control the implementation of the agreements?
  

Chair: Amra Seleskovic, Director, Vesta Association, Bosnia - Herzegovina

Panel:     Leszek Chajewski, Battory Foundation - Survey Report

              Kenan Hadzimusic, Project Manager, European Citizen Action Service - Hotline Report

              Ditmir Bushati, Executive Director, European Movement Albania, Albania

Discussion Q&A

10:45 - 11:00 Coffee Break

11:00 - 12:30 Panel 2: From visa facilitation to visa liberalization

Issues for debate:

• What are the next steps for advocating visa liberalization?
• Could a common visa code between member states constitute a good tool to insure more uniform visa implementation?
• What are the convergences with other studies accomplished in Eastern Europe?
• What is the role of the National governments in Western Balkans in the visa liberalization process?
• Is the decision to liberalize the visa system with Western Balkans intrinsically of a political nature?

Chair: Daliborka Uljarevic, Executive Director, Centre for Civic Education, Montenegro (TBC)

Panel:      Jelko Kacin, Member of the European Parliament, Slovenia (TBC)

               H.E. Pierre Sellal, French Ambassador to the EU, Brussels (TBC)

               Alexandra Stiglmayer, Senior Analyst, European Stability Initiative, Brussels

               Tanja Hafner-Ademi, Coordinator of Balkan Civil Scoiety Development Network, Macedonia

Discussion, Q & A

Concluding Remarks

12:30 - 13:15 Lunch Break

END OF THE CONFERENCE