Relación entre coeficientes de Zernike y de Seidel

In the Association Agreement, the movement of persons is dealt with only in summary terms, but the Visa Liberalisation Action Plan (VLAP) goes into much more detail.31 _{The Agreement confirms that Ukraine is} required to fully implement the visa facilitation and readmission agreements and to take gradual steps on the road to visa liberalisation (i.e. visa-free access). In December 2015, the European Commission formally recommended to the Council of the EU that the EU apply the visa-free regime to Ukrainians for short trips to the EU.32 _{In April 2016,}

31 _{The VLAP is applied in two phases: first through legislation and institutional}

arrangements, and then implementation. Successful completion of these conditions is now at the top of the political agenda.

32 _{See the “Sixth Progress Report on the Implementation by Ukraine of the}

Action Plan on Visa Liberalisation”, December 2015 (https://ec.europa.eu/ transparency/regdoc/rep/1/2015/EN/1-2015-905-EN-F1-1.PDF).

the European Commission proposed issuing a visa waiver for Ukrainian citizens with biometric passports.33 _{It is now up to the} Council of the EU and the European Parliament to give their final backing for visa-free travel. However, the EU continues to pay much attention to the policy agenda in Ukraine, in particular to issues related to fighting corruption.

In its latest report, the Commission concluded that Ukraine has met all the benchmarks set in the four blocks of the VLAP’s second phase:

1) document security, including biometric passports (see section below);

2) integrated border management, migration management and asylum (see section below);

3) public order and security (see chapters 1 and 3); and

4) external relations and fundamental rights (see chapters 3 and 1, respectively).

Document security, including biometric passports. Significant

progress was made in 2015, when Ukraine began issuing biometric passports that comply with the requirements of the International Civil Aviation Organisation. A second line of control was introduced at Kyiv Boryspil airport, which can access information on fingerprints stored in Ukrainian passports. Since January 2016, new biometric ID cards have been issued, but they are currently only available to Ukrainians who apply for a passport for the first time.

Migration and border management. The Agreement sets the

stage for comprehensive dialogue and cooperation on legal and illegal migration, trafficking and smuggling of people, border management, asylum, return policies and the movement of persons. Ukrainian policies on migration and border management have been amended during recent years as part of implementing the VLAP.

Of particular importance was the approval by the Ukrainian parliament of the law on external labour migration in November 2015. This law sets the parameters for regulating reintegration, which is essential when taking into account the large number of external labour migrants from Ukraine (1.3–2.5 million people according to different estimates). The Agreement also protects Ukrainian workers legally employed in the EU against discrimination (Art. 17).

33 _{See the Commission’s proposal of April 2016 (http://ec.europa.eu/}

As mentioned in chapter 3 (on foreign and security policy), the EU has established special advisory missions to assist the Ukrainian authorities on border management issues. For example, in the context of the EUAM, in May 2015 it set up a Border Management Assistance Group with Ukrainian partners, which is currently confronted with exceptional challenges on its borders with Russia and the separatist regions of eastern Donbas. Another mission, the EU Border Assistance Mission (EUBAM), is part of the EU’s combined effort to help Moldova and Ukraine meet the mandatory requirements of Title III of the Agreement (Justice, Freedom, and Security).34 _{EUBAM provides} assistance on harmonising legislation, ensuring skills transfer for border professionals and helping institutions to build the processes, infrastructure and contacts for intra-service, inter-agency and international cooperation. The Ukrainian authorities have ensured access to Interpol databases at border crossing points and have taken further steps to cooperate on border control and border surveillance with neighbouring countries. The government also approved an Integrated Border Management Strategy for the period 2016–20.35 _The State Border Guard Service is advancing towards its transition to a modern law-enforcement agency aligned with EU best practices.

Justice, freedom and security at a glance

Success in improving the rule of law and anti-corruption policy is universally considered to be indispensable to the overall success of the Association Agreement and Ukraine’s economic future.

Significant reforms were at last underway by mid-June 2016, notably to the judiciary and prosecutor’s office.

Border management has become a matter of increasing and indeed strategic significance for Ukraine, for which the EU has introduced specific programmes.

The objective for Ukraine to obtain visa-free access for its citizens to travel to the EU is of the highest political and practical importance, and the official criteria for granting visa-free access have been fulfilled.

34 _{See EUBAM, “What we do” (http://eubam.org/what-we-do/#2).} 35 _{See the CMU Resolution No. 1149-р of October 2015}

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3.

FOREIGN AND SECURITY POLICY

The Association Agreement aims to facilitate the gradual alignment of Ukraine’s foreign, security and defence policies with those of the EU at bilateral, regional and multilateral levels. These include areas covered by the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP).

The CFSP encompasses the objectives and issues of strategic interest to the EU, the joint actions and common positions adopted by the Union and the procedures for implementing these actions and positions. In 2014, Ukraine aligned its position to 73% of the CFSP declarations.

The CSDP may undertake a wide range of tasks, including humanitarian, conflict prevention, disarmament and peacekeeping operations; the deployment of combat forces in crisis management; and post-conflict stabilisation.