Where a visa is required for travel between neighbouring states, dialogue on visa facilitation can assist states in promoting people-to-people contacts. In practice, many OSCE participat-ing States are workparticipat-ing to facilitate cross-border travel and contacts for citizens residparticipat-ing in border areas. This section focuses on local cross-border travel agreements in force as of March 2014, which have been reached between non-EU OSCE participating States and the EU mem-ber states that they share borders with.83 Similar agreements reached between other non-EU OSCE participating States are also mentioned.84 The high number of visitors who benefit from facilitated local cross-border travel has not only resulted in increased mobility, but has also contributed to the development of mutual trust between neighbouring communities located in border regions.
On the basis of Regulation (EC) No 1931/2006 of the European Parliament and of the EU Council of 20 December 2006 laying down rules on local border traffic at the external land borders of the Member States and amending the provisions of the Schengen Convention, the EU member states are authorized to conclude agreements on local border traffic with neighbouring third countries. “Local border traffic” refers to regular and frequent crossings of the EU’s external borders for legitimate reasons by nationals of neighbouring third countries who reside in areas bordering the EU.
Under the provisions of local border traffic agreements, residents of border areas may cross the external land border of an EU member state without a visa, provided that they are in pos-session of special permits, which are valid for one to five years (and passports, if the member state in question so requires), and that they are not deemed to be threats to public order. These persons are authorized to stay in the border area at the destination for the maximum duration stipulated in the bilateral agreement between the EU member state and the neighbouring third country. However, the stay must not exceed three months. The fee for the permit is equivalent to that payable for a short-term multiple-entry visa. However, EU member states may decide to reduce or even waive these fees.
On 14 December 2011, the Russian Federation and Poland signed a bilateral agreement on local border traffic, which entered into force on 27 July 2012.85 The Agreement allows residents of the border regions to cross the border with special permission (Local Border Traffic Permission), which costs EUR 20 and is issued by the Russian consulates in Warsaw and Gdansk and the
82 More information is available at the website of the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the European Union, <http://www.russianmission.eu/en/news/russian-and-eu-experts-start-implementations-steps-visa-waiver>.
83 Namely between Poland and the Russian Federation, between Poland and Ukraine, between Hungary and Ukraine, between Moldova and Romania and between Belarus and Latvia.
84 Including Norway and the Russian Federation.
85 Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Poland and the Government of the Russian Federation on the Rules of Local Border Traffic, <http://www.msz.gov.pl/resource/630c9ccb-acd7-45e5-89bf-8f9e529a3b05>.
Polish consulate in Kaliningrad. The document is valid for two years, and can be extended up to a total of five years; it can be used for building family, social, economic, cultural and other contacts, but not for employment and business activities. The new cross-border regime covers the entire Kaliningrad oblast and the Polish województwa (provinces) of Warmińsko-Mazurskie and Pomorskie. The expansion of the local border traffic regime to include the en-tire Kaliningrad oblast required the respective Schengen rules be revised; accordingly, amend-ments were made to Regulation (EC) No 1931/2006 of the European Parliament and of the EU Council of 20 December 2006.86 Given that the situation of Kaliningrad is unique, the EU accommodated the request by Poland and the Russian Federation to increase the width of the local border traffic zone by 60 to 100 kilometres on either side of the Polish-Russian border. In doing so, the EU deviated from the common rule, which allows local border traffic to cover an area stretching a maximum 30 kilometres (50 kilometres in exceptional cases) from the border.
A similar agreement on local border traffic was signed between Norway and the Russian Federation in November 2010.87 In addition, Lithuania and the Russian Federation have en-tered negotiations on a similar local border traffic regime, but at the time of writing the dia-logue had not resulted in an agreement.
On 1 July 2009, a local border traffic agreement between Ukraine and Poland entered into force.88 Under the agreement, the Ukrainian zone covers an area of 24,000 square kilometres, with over 1.2 million inhabitants. The agreement allows Ukrainian nationals living in the designated border area to cross the external border of the EU with permits obtained from the Polish consular authorities according to a simplified procedure. These permits are issued for a limited period of time to applicants who have been deemed eligible. The permits have a geo-graphical limitation allowing travellers from Ukraine to stay in the immediate border areas of Poland (up to 30 kilometres from the border).
Since the launch of the local border traffic agreement between Poland and Ukraine, there has been a significant increase in the number of border crossings at the Polish-Ukrainian bor-der. According to European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union (FRONTEX) data,89 around 3 million entries on the border with Ukraine were recorded by Polish authorities in 2009. This number rose by 40 per cent, to more than 4.2 million in 2010, and was expected to reach around 5 million in 2011 (a rise of 27 per cent). According to a FRONTEX report from 2012, since the establishment of the local border traffic agreement in 2009, visitors from Ukraine arriving in the border area of Poland via one of the border crossings accounted for 50 per cent (2.1 million) of all visitors arriving in Poland from Ukraine since 2010.90
86 Regulation (EC) No 1931/2006 of the European Parliament and of the EU Council of 20 December 2006 laying down rules on local border traffic at the external land borders of the Member States and amending the provisions of the Schengen Convention, <http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2006:405:0001:0022 :EN:PDF>.
87 Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Kingdom of Norway on Facilitation of Mutual Travel for Border Residents of the Russian Federation and the Kingdom Of Norway,
<http://www.carim-east.eu/media/legal%20module/biag/ru/15.2.%20Norway_en.pdf>.
88 Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Poland and the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on the Rules of Local Border Traffic, <https://granica.gov.pl/umowy/UA_maly_ruch_graniczny.pdf>.
89 “Eastern Borders Annual Overview 2012”, FRONTEX, 13 July 2012, <http://www.frontex.europa.eu/assets/
Publications/Risk_Analysis/EB_AO.pdf>.
90 FRONTEX Eastern Borders Annual Overview 2012, <http://frontex.europa.eu/assets/Publications/Risk_Analysis/
EB_AO.pdf>.
Romania and Moldova concluded a local border traffic agreement in November 2009.91 Under this agreement, Moldovan citizens with permanent residence in Moldova’s 50-kilometre bor-der zone have the right to visa-free entrance to Romania’s 50-kilometre borbor-der zone, so long as they are in possession of special permits. The permits are issued free of charge by Romanian consular offices and are valid for two to five years. The border zone covers 651 villages and 369 municipalities, with a total population of 1.2 million (approximately one third of the total population of Moldova).
In November 2007, an agreement was signed between Hungary and Ukraine on the rules of local border traffic that covers a border area of 50 kilometres, including 244 Hungarian and 384 Ukrainian settlements.92 The local border area permit issued to Ukrainian citizens costs EUR 20 and is valid for a period of one to five years. It allows Ukrainian citizens to enter and stay in the Hungarian border area for a total of 90 days within a six-month period (calculated from the first date of entry). A similar agreement was signed between Slovakia and Ukraine in May 2008 that covers 299 Slovak and 280 Ukrainian settlements situated within 50 kilometres of the common border.93
In December 2011, a local border traffic agreement between Belarus and Latvia entered into force.94 Following this agreement, consular representations of both states in the border areas developed lists of residents in those areas who are eligible for permits. On the basis of these lists, entry permits are granted to eligible persons for a period of one to 5 years. The agreement delineates the administrative and territorial units within each state located no further than 30 kilometres from the Belarussian-Latvian border. If the size of a unit stretches further than the 30-kilometre zone on either side of the border but is within 50 kilometres of the border, then the unit is also considered to be a part of the border area.
Further to those local border traffic agreements that are already operational, OSCE participat-ing States are negotiatparticipat-ing, or have already concluded, several other local border traffic agree-ments, some of which have not yet entered into force (including those between the following states: Lithuania and the Russian Federation; Latvia and the Russian Federation; Poland and Belarus; Romania and Ukraine). Before the liberalization of cross-border travel between OSCE participating States in the Western Balkans, local border traffic agreements were concluded between Bulgaria, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Serbia. At the time of writ-ing, these agreements had not yet entered into force.
91 Agreement between the Government of Romania and the Government of the Republic of Moldova on Local Border Traffic.
92 Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Hungary and the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on the Rules of Local Border Traffic.
93 Agreement between the Slovak Republic and Ukraine on Local Border Traffic.
94 Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Belarus and the Government of the Republic of Latvia on Local Border Traffic.
chapter 5
best practices and innovative mechanisms in increasing
cross-border mobility
While OSCE participating States struggle to meet the increasing demand for travel from coun-tries with which they maintain visa regimes, negotiations on the facilitation and eventual liberalization of cross-border mobility remain the sovereign prerogative of each participating State. Where visa regimes exist, the facilitation of cross-border travel and the simplification of visa procedures represent significant challenges, especially in the face of an increasing demand for visas, as demonstrated between 2010 and 2012. The facilitation and liberalization process requires states to establish and maintain genuine partnerships, while working con-tinuously to simplify visa application procedures and introduce innovative mechanisms in the visa application process.
In an effort to simplify administrative procedures in the visa application process, many OSCE participating States have reduced the required frequency and duration of an applicant’s vis-its to the relevant visa issuing office, as well as the time taken to process visa applications.
Likewise, efforts have been made to increase the issuance of multiple-entry visas and to in-crease their period of validity for bona fide travellers.
In some OSCE participating States, the simplification of visa application procedures is under-taken in parallel with the introduction of national registration systems to track the entry and exit of third country nationals to ensure that they comply with the terms of the visa. These mechanisms are useful in assessing the credibility of frequent visitors and allow the visa-is-suing state to increase the number of long-term multiple-entry visas being issued to frequent visitors.