Agreement reached to suspend visa-free travel over security and rights concerns

A reform of the mechanism to suspend short-stay visa-free travel into the EU, agreed today between Parliament and Council negotiating teams, will allow the EU to respond more flexibly when countries backslide on important principles of their visa waiver agreement, which can include security concerns and human rights violations.

New grounds for suspension

In future, violations of the United Nations Charter, severe breaches of international human rights or humanitarian law, and not complying with international court decisions will be valid grounds for suspending visa-freedom. This helps align the grounds for suspension with the grounds for granting the visa waiver in the first place, and can create a deterrent effect.

With the new law, additional grounds for suspending the visa waiver will include hybrid threats, such as state-sponsored instrumentalisation of migrants aimed at destabilising or undermining society; and investor citizenship schemes (“golden passports”), which raise security concerns. A country’s lack of alignment with EU visa policy, potentially making it a transit country for illegal entry into the EU, will also be a valid ground for suspending visa-free regimes. Existing grounds, including a lack of cooperation on readmissions, will be maintained.

No impunity for third-country government officials

To deter third-country governments from violating the terms of their short-stay visa waiver agreement, the agreed law gives the EU more flexibility to target government officials (who may bear responsibility for a government’s human rights breaches or other violations) with suspensions of visa freedom.

Based on an EP proposal, it was agreed that the Commission can prevent member states from exempting from visa suspension diplomatic and service passport carrying government and state officials.

Under current legislation, “substantial” increases in numbers of people staying without permission, of asylum applications from a country with a low recognition rate, or of serious criminal offences can also trigger visa freedom suspension. During negotiations, it was agreed that the threshold for assessing such an increase will be set to 30 %. The threshold for calculating a low recognition rate of asylum application will be set at 20 %. In well-justified cases, the Commission can also deviate from these thresholds.

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After the vote, rapporteur Matjaž Nemec (S&D, Slovenia) said: “Reformed visa rules will give the EU a revamped tool to respond to geopolitical situations and new threats. Visa policy can contribute to upholding EU values by ensuring that there are consequences when a foreign government breaches human rights and international law. In such cases, their government representatives and diplomats should have their visa-free access to the EU revoked, and this agreement makes that more likely.”

Next steps

Before it can enter into law, the provisional agreement needs to be formally adopted by both Parliament and Council.

Background

Nationals of 61 third countries can currently travel to the Schengen area for short stays (up to 90 days in any 180-day period) without a visa (source: EP Research Service).

According to the current law, the European Commission (following a proposal by a concerned member state or on its own initiative) can start the process of suspending visa-free travel from third countries into the Schengen area, first temporarily, pending further investigation and dialogue with the country in question, and then permanently if the issues are not resolved. To date, visa freedom has only been revoked once, in the case of Vanuatu.

More information: European Parliament