The Visa Liberalisation Dialogue between Ukraine and the European Union is one of the most successful examples of Ukraine's practical integration into the EU and, at the same time, one of the key instruments for deepening cooperation in the area of justice and home affairs.
Following the agreements reached at the Ukraine–EU Summit held in Paris on 9 September 2008, the Visa Liberalisation Dialogue between Ukraine and the European Union was officially launched in Brussels on 29 October 2008.
At the Ukraine–EU Summit held on 22 November 2010, Ukraine was presented with the Visa Liberalisation Action Plan, which established a clear set of benchmarks and stages to be fulfilled for the introduction of visa-free travel. The Action Plan covered four blocks of reforms: document security, integrated border management and migration, public order and security, and external relations and fundamental rights.
On 18 December 2015, the European Commission published its sixth and final Progress Report on Ukraine's implementation of the Visa Liberalisation Action Plan, confirming that Ukraine had met all the required benchmarks and announcing its intention to submit a legislative proposal to grant visa-free travel to Ukrainian citizens. On 20 April 2016, the European Commission presented the corresponding legislative proposal to amend Council Regulation (EC) No 539/2001.
On 17 May 2017, during a formal ceremony at the European Parliament in Strasbourg attended by the President of Ukraine, the President of the European Parliament and the representative of the Maltese Presidency of the Council of the European Union signed the Regulation granting visa-free travel to Ukrainian citizens by amending Council Regulation (EC) No 539/2001. The Regulation was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 22 May 2017.
On 11 June 2017, the visa-free regime between Ukraine and the European Union entered into force, granting Ukrainian citizens the right to travel without a visa for short stays of up to 90 days within any 180-day period to the Member States of the European Union and the Schengen associated countries.
Since the entry into force of the visa-free regime, the European Commission has conducted annual monitoring of partner countries' continued fulfilment of the benchmarks required to maintain visa-free travel under the Visa Suspension Mechanism.
Between 2017 and 2025, the European Commission published eight reports under the Visa Suspension Mechanism. In each of these reports, the Commission confirmed that Ukraine continued to fulfil the visa liberalisation benchmarks required to maintain visa-free travel for Ukrainian citizens to the Member States of the European Union.
At the same time, the European Commission has consistently underlined the need to ensure the sustainability and irreversibility of reforms, particularly in the areas of the rule of law, the fight against corruption and organised crime, the functioning of the judiciary and anti-corruption institutions, migration and border management, as well as the continued alignment of Ukraine's legislation with the EU acquis in the context of Ukraine's accession negotiations with the European Union.
Starting with the reports published between 2023 and 2025, the European Commission has also underlined that the monitoring of visa liberalisation benchmarks is becoming increasingly aligned with the EU enlargement process. In particular, the assessment of Ukraine's continued fulfilment of the visa liberalisation benchmarks takes into account the recommendations set out in the European Commission's Enlargement Package.