Dubai: The European Union decision to allow UAE citizens into Schengen countries without a visa is expected to come into effect in the coming few months, a senior European diplomat said.
“At the end of March, the internal process among [concerned] EU countries for visa waiver is expected to be completed,” said Carlo De Filippi, Ambassador of the European Union at UAE, during a briefing with a group of journalists in Dubai on Sunday.
“Then, both EU and UAE will sign an agreement, which means a provisional implementation of the waiver,” De Filippi explained to Gulf News.
The agreement will set a date for the waiver to be in place afterwards.
On March 22, 2014, the EU announced that it will allow UAE citizens to enter 13 Schengen countries without a visa.
It will be the first Arab country to receive such treatment. De Filippi praised the strong bilateral relations between the two sides “on all levels”, including energy, environment, climate change and counter-terrorism.
He also praised UAE’s stability, and noted that UAE allows EU citizens to enter its territories without a visa.
The UAE is the EU’s 14th largest trade partner and the EU is the UAE’s second biggest trading partner. Trade between the two sides reached 55 billion euros (Dh228.59 billion), according to the official figures of EU, at the beginning of 2014.
There are more than 150,000 EU citizens living in the UAE, while over 1.6 million EU visitors travel to the UAE every year. The Gulf country hosts embassies of 22 EU member states.
