PURPOSE: to conclude the Agreement between the
European Union and Azerbaijan on the readmission of persons
residing without authorisation.
PROPOSED ACT: Council Decision.
BACKGROUND: the EU and Azerbaijan have agreed to move
forward with the deepening and broadening of EU - Azerbaijan
relations within the Eastern Partnership (EaP) framework. In this
framework, the EU has recognized the importance of enhanced
people-to-people contacts. During the Prague Eastern Partnership
Summit in May 2009, the EU reaffirmed its political support for
full liberalisation of the visa regime in a secure environment, and
for promoting mobility by concluding visa facilitation and
readmission agreements with EaP countries. According to the common
approach for the development of EU policy on visa facilitation
agreed by the Council, a visa facilitation agreement would not be
concluded without a readmission agreement being in
place.
On 19 December 2011, the Council formally authorised
the Commission to negotiate a readmission agreement between the EU
and Azerbaijan.
In February 2012 the Commission transmitted a draft
text to the authorities of Azerbaijan following which the first
round of formal negotiations was held in Baku on 1-2 March 2012.
Three further formal rounds of negotiations took place, lastly in
Brussels on 12-13 March 2013. The agreed text was subsequently
initialled on 29 July 2013 in Brussels.
Member States have been regularly informed and
consulted at all (informal and formal) stages of the readmission
negotiations.
CONTENT: the proposed decision provides that the
Council conclude the Agreement between the EU and Azerbaijan on the
readmission of persons residing without authorisation on behalf of
the Union.
The proposed Agreement sets out the necessary internal
arrangements for the practical application of the
Agreement.
Terms of the Agreement: the final content of this
Agreement can be summarised as follows:
·
the agreement contains an opening clause,
reaffirming that it will be applied so as to ensure respect for
human rights, and respect for the obligations and responsibilities
of the Requested State and Requesting State under relevant
international instruments applicable to them. It reiterates that
the Requested State shall ensure the protection of the rights of
persons readmitted to its territory in compliance with those
international instruments. The same clause confirms that the
Requesting State should give preference to voluntary return over
forced return;
·
the readmission obligations set out in the
Agreement (Articles 3 - 6) are drawn up in a fully
reciprocal manner, comprising own nationals (Articles 3 and 5)
as well as third country nationals and stateless persons (Articles
4 and 6);
·
the obligation to readmit own nationals also
includes former own nationals who have renounced their nationality
without acquiring the nationality of another State;
·
the readmission obligation with regard to
own nationals also covers family members (i.e. spouses and
minor unmarried children) regardless of their nationality and who
do not have an independent right of residence in the Requesting
State;
·
the obligation to readmit third country
nationals and stateless persons (Articles 4 and 6) is linked to the
following prerequisites: (a) the person concerned holds, at
the time of submission of the readmission application, a valid visa
or residence permit issued by the Requested State or (b) the person
concerned illegally and directly entered the territory of the
Requesting State after having stayed on, or transited through, the
territory of the Requested State. Exempted from these obligations
are persons in airside transit and persons who enjoy visafree
access to the territory of the Member State;
·
for own nationals, in case of expiry of the
specified delay, and for third country nationals or stateless
persons Azerbaijan accepts the use of the EU's standard travel
document for expulsion purposes (Articles 3(5) and 4(3)). The
equivalent standard document of Azerbaijan is included in Annex
8;
·
Section III of the Agreement (Articles 7 to 13
in conj. with annexes 1 to 5) contains the necessary technical
provisions regarding the readmission procedure (readmission
application, means of evidence, time limits, transfer modalities
and modes of transportation) and 'readmission in error' (Article
13). Procedural flexibility is provided by the fact that no
readmission application will be needed in cases where the person to
be readmitted is in possession of a valid travel document (Article
7(2)).
·
in Article 7(3), the Agreement sets out the
accelerated procedure, which has been agreed upon for
persons apprehended in an area which extends up to 15 kilometres
from and including the territories of seaports and international
airports, including custom zones, of the Member States or
Azerbaijan. Under the accelerated procedure, readmission
applications have to be submitted within 2 days and replies have to
be given within 2 working days, whereas under the normal procedure
the time limit for replies is 15 calendar days (Article
11(2));
·
the Agreement contains a section on transit
operations (Articles 14 and 15 in conj. with annex 6);
·
Articles 16, 17 and 18 contain the necessary
rules on costs, data protection and the relation to other
international obligations;
·
the Joint Readmission Committee will be
composed, and have the tasks and powers, as set out in Article
19;
·
in order to facilitate the implementation of the
Agreement, Article 20 creates the possibility for Azerbaijan and
individual Member States to conclude bilateral implementing
Protocols. Article 21 clarifies the relationship between the
bilateral implementing Protocols and the Agreement;
·
the final provisions (Art. 22 to 25) contain the
necessary rules on entry into force, duration, possible amendments,
suspension, termination and the legal status of the annexes to the
agreement.
Territorial provisions:
the specific situation of Denmark is reflected in the Agreement.
The close association of Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and
Liechtenstein with the implementation, application and development
of the Schengen Acquis has been taken into account, and is
reflected in relevant joint declarations to the
Agreement.