The Commission adopted its first EU Visa Strategy, which sets out a framework for a visa policy that promotes the EU’s long-term interests. This strategy makes visa policy more strategic and better equipped to respond to increasing mobility, regional instability and geopolitical competition.
The Strategy has the following objectives:
- strengthenthe security of the Schengen area;
- supporteconomic growth and competitiveness;
- promotingthe EU’s strategic interests, values and global position in the world.
Alongside the Strategy, the Commission also adopted aRecommendation on attracting talent for innovation, with a view to making the EU more attractive to highly skilled professionals, students, researchers and innovative entrepreneurs and supporting the EU’s competitiveness in a global context.
Key pillars
The Visa Strategy is based on three key pillars:
Strengthening EU security
This includes:
- A modern system for granting visa exemptions to partner countries
- Stricter monitoring of existing visa-free regimes
- Greater visa benefits
- Possible specific visa restrictions
- New measures to enhance the security of travel documents
Boosting competitiveness
The strategy proposes new measures to support the EU’s global competitiveness, attract talent and make legitimate travel easier, faster and more predictable for tourists and business travellers, including:
- New digital procedures for both visa-free and visa-required travellers: ETIAS will simplify and partially automate pre-departure checks for visa-free travellers, starting in the fourth quarter of 2026.
- Multiple-entry visas with longer validity for trusted travellers.
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Better conditions for talent
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Additional support for non-EU citizens and employers to address challenges related to the visa process through the European Legal Gateway Offices
- Additional EU funding to support visa processing for highly qualified third-country nationals
Modern tools for visas
The EU is implementing advanced digital tools to modernise visa and border management. EU IT systems will beinteroperable by 2028, allowing multiple databases to be consulted simultaneously through a single centralised search, thereby improving information exchange and preventing visa abuse.
Recommendation on attracting talent for innovation
The Recommendation complements the Visa Strategy and sets out concrete ways in which Member States can make the EU more attractive to students, researchers and highly skilled workers, start-up founders and innovative entrepreneurs in sectors that are key to the EU’s competitiveness and strategic autonomy.
The recommendation urges Member States to provide simpler and faster procedures for long-term visas and residence permits through more digitised processes, fewer documents and shorter processing times, easier transitions to work or entrepreneurship from studies or research in the EU, better intra-EU mobility, as well as better access to information and greater coordination between Member State authorities, universities and research organisations.
More information: European Commission.
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