Translation of "accroître substantiellement les échanges culturels " (French → English) :

41. Welcomes the signing of the visa facilitation and readmission agreements on 18 September 2007 and urges the Council to ensure that they enter into force by the end of 2007; welcomes the adoption of the Law on Travel Documents and notes that laws on asylum, state borders and foreigners are currently in the course of adoption; calls on the Council, with the support of the Commission, to establish a concrete roadmap for visa-free movement and to adopt support measures designed to increase travel opportunities for a greater proportion of citizens, particularly young people; emphasises the importance of mobility for the political and economic development of Serbia, since mobility grants people the opportunity to gain first-hand experience ...[+++] of the EU and facilitates Serbia's European integration process; calls for greater participation in life-long learning and cultural exchange projects; invites the Council to consider establishing a common system for managing visa applications in such a way as to lighten the burden on the busiest consulates and to ensure that applications are processed within reasonable deadlines;

41. Welcomes the signing of the visa facilitation and readmission agreements on 18 September 2007 and urges the Council to ensure that they enter into force by the end of 2007; welcomes the adoption of the Law on Travel Documents and notes that laws on asylum, state borders and foreigners are currently in the course of adoption; calls on the Council, with the support of the Commission, to establish a concrete roadmap for visa-free movement and to adopt support measures designed to increase travel opportunities for a greater proportion of citizens, particularly young people; emphasises the importance of mobility for the political and economic development of Serbia, since mobility grants people the opportunity to gain first-hand experience ...[+++] of the EU and facilitates Serbia's European integration process; calls for greater participation in life-long learning and cultural exchange projects; invites the Council to consider establishing a common system for managing visa applications in such a way as to lighten the burden on the busiest consulates and to ensure that applications are processed within reasonable deadlines;

40. Welcomes the initialling of the visa facilitation and readmission agreements and urges the Council to ensure that they enter into force by the end of 2007; calls on the Council, with the support of the Commission, to establish a concrete roadmap for visa-free movement and to adopt support measures designed to increase travel opportunities for a greater proportion of citizens, particularly young people; emphasises the importance of mobility for the political and economic development of Serbia, since mobility grants people the opportunity to gain first-hand experience of the EU and facilitates Serbia's European integration process; calls for greater participation in life-long learning and cultural ...[+++] exchange projects; invites the Council to consider establishing a common system for managing visa applications in such a way as to lighten the burden on the busiest consulates and to ensure that applications are processed within reasonable deadlines;

33. Welcomes the initialling of the visa facilitation and readmission agreements with the EU as a transitional step towards a mutual visa-free travel regime, and to this end calls on the Commission to set out a roadmap to increase mobility, including greater participation in life-long learning and cultural exchange projects, and on the Government of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to continue its commitment to fulfil the required European standards in the fields of justice, freedom and security; welcomes the introduction of the new passports with biometric security features by the Former Yugoslav Republic ...[+++]of Macedonia; takes note of the difficulties faced by the citizens of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia due to the non-recognition by one Member State of the EU of its passports; recalls that this issue has been raised and examined in detail during negotiations on the visa facilitation agreement; points out that a Joint Declaration has been adopted and annexed to the initialled text; calls on all parties concerned to act promptly on that Declaration, as soon as the conditions for its implementation are met;

Why do we not lift the visitor visa requirements, so that we can increase family visitation, tourism, cultural exchanges and trade missions?

The steady increase in the number of notifications and consultations, reflecting the Code of Conduct's rising impact, gives added substance to Member States' information exchanges in the said Working Party.