The European Union and Georgia signed on June 17 2010 a visa facilitation agreement with Georgia, opening the way for easier travel and people-to-people contact across Europe, the European Commission said in a media statement.

The signature of the readmission agreement negotiated between the European Union and Georgia in parallel will be organised "very soon," the statement said.

"The conclusion of a visa facilitation agreement is a concrete step forward in EU-Georgia relations. It is EU's message of openness to the Georgian citizens." according to Cecilia Malmström, European Commissioner for Home Affairs.

"The visa facilitation and readmission agreements are very tangible result of the Eastern partnership and will promote interaction between citizens of the EU and Georgia and strengthen our cooperation in the fight against irregular immigration," she said.

Štefan Füle, Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy, said: ''This is part of our commitment to bring Georgia closer to the EU, not only at institutional level but also at peoples' level''.

The visa facilitation agreement aims at making it easier for Georgian citizens, in particular those who travel most, to acquire short term visas for the EU.

It provides a reduced visa fee of 35 euro instead of 60 euro for all Georgian citizens and a total exemption from the visa fee for certain categories of applicants (e.g. children below the age of 12, pensioners, disabled persons, students, close relatives and representatives of civil society organisations).

Furthermore, according to the EC statement, for certain people (e.g. businesspeople, students and journalists) the necessary documents requested for supporting a visa application are simplified.

Bona fide frequent travellers will be issued multi-entry visas with long periods of validity. Finally, the holders of diplomatic passports are exempt from the visa obligation. The agreement also obliges the Consulates to take a decision within 10 days on whether or not to issue a visa.

The negotiations of the readmission agreement have been finalised and the text was initialled between the negotiators on the same day as the visa facilitation agreement, the EC statement said.

The formal signature of the readmission agreement will be organised once the Council finalises the necessary procedures. Both visa facilitation and readmission agreements will enter into force on the same day.

The agreement on readmission sets out clear obligations and procedures for the authorities of both Georgia and EU member states as to when and how to take back people who are illegally residing on their territories.

The draft agreement covers not only the illegally staying nationals of both parties but also third country nationals and stateless persons being in an irregular situation provided they have a clear link with the requested Party (e.g. visa or resident permit).

Full respect of human rights as provided by the European Convention of Human Rights will also be guaranteed during the application of the readmission agreement, the statement said.

EU citizens are already exempt from the visa obligation by Georgia.