In December 2015, the European Commission gave a positive assessment of Ukraine successfully meeting all benchmark requirements necessary for the liberalization of the visa regime with the Schengen zone.
In September, the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs supported a report and a draft resolution on granting Ukraine a visa-free regime with the European bloc.
In late October, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said that the European Parliament would sign and ratify documents on establishing a visa-free regime with Ukraine before November 24.
On November 16, the Council of the European Union took a preliminary decision on visa liberalization for Ukraine. Poroshenko welcomed the decision and called on the European Union to complete the process of granting the visa-free regime for Ukraine without any further delay.
Once the European parliament agrees and adopts the proposal, EU citizens will be able to travel to Ukraine visa-free and likewise Ukrainian citizens will be able to travel to the EU countries visa-free for a period of 90 days in any 180-day period. Ireland and the United Kingdom will still be exempted from these measures, according to EU treaties.
