On 18 April 2011 a meeting of Senior Officials took place in Moscow, tasked to elaborate a list of Common Steps towards a visa-free short-term travel regime for Russian and EU citizens.
The Senior Officials, Vladimir Voronkov, Director of the European Cooperation Department, MFA of Russia, and Stefano Manservisi, Director General of the European Commission, discussed a draft list of joint measures in the areas of document security, biometrics, countering illegal migration, readmission, judicial cooperation and interaction between competent agencies of Russia, EU and its member states.
The task to elaborate Common Steps towards visa abolition had been given at the meeting of the Russia-EU Permanent Partnership Council on Freedom, Security and Justice held on 18 and 19 November 2010 in Brussels.
The implementation of Common Steps will open the way to launching negotiations on a Russia-EU visa waiver agreement.
