Brussels, 06/12/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday, European sources indicated that on Wednesday 5 December, member states and the European Parliament reached an agreement on the suspension of visa waiver systems to punish third countries whose nationals are responsible for making bogus asylum applications.
This clause was presented in May 2011, at the request made by a number of countries including Belgium, Luxembourg, France and the Netherlands. The latter two countries were the first to demand such an initiative. This clause could ultimately suspend visa liberalisation systems for six months with certain countries, particularly those in the Balkans. Belgium and Luxembourg, and also Germany and Sweden, have complained that over recent months there has been an increase in the number of asylum applications from these countries. Visa waiver systems were agreed in 2008 and 2009 with Serbia, Albania, Montenegro, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The countries backing the clause accuse nationals from these countries of submitting bogus asylum applications once they have arrived in the Schengen area and consequently damaging member states' asylum systems.
Recently, Germany severely criticised Serbia and FYROM because they had been responsible for a sharp increase in asylum applications. The Commission also admitted that the situation had become difficult and characterised by many cases of abuse. In September, according to figures supplied by the German minister, Hans-Peter Friedrich, demands from Serbian citizens tripled compared to figures for August, while the number of applications submitted for Macedonians increased by 70%.
The procedure defined by the trialogue on Tuesday, however, should, above all, act as a deterrent and will not necessarily need to be activated, indicated one source. In order for the safeguard clause to be activated, it will be necessary for the Commission, requested by member states, to first of all elaborate a proposal for the suspension of visa liberalisation systems on the basis of precise criteria for a period of six months. The proposal will then need to be adopted in committee procedures by qualified majority.
Parliament believes that one of the key elements in negotiations focuses on visa reciprocity. The tacit agreement obtained on Wednesday therefore provides it with a certain amount of security by establishing that the EU can reintroduce visas for nationals from countries that are themselves imposing such obligations, as is the case with Canada and the US, which demand visas for citizens from several member states, such as the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Romania. Nonetheless, several sources explained that in practical terms, this procedure would be so difficult to implement that there is actually no risk of the US having to face new visa requirements for their nationals. (SP/transl.fl)