Brussels, 20/05/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 20 May, the Council reached a political agreement in principle on the proposed regulation aiming to revise the mechanism to suspend visa-free regimes, which is applicable to all third countries which benefit or will benefit from visa liberalisation.
The mechanism agreed upon is “tougher” than the existing system and will “make it easier to tackle any abuse”, the migration minister of the Netherlands, Klaas Dijkhoff, announced (see EUROPE 11554). He listed the three major changes the Council has made it to the existing mechanism: (1) it will be easier for the member states to notify the circumstances leading to a suspension of a visa-free regime; (2) a permanent 'monitoring' mechanism will verify that third countries are continuing to correctly fulfil the 72 criteria required for the visa exemption. The European Commission will send an annual monitoring report to the European Parliament and the Council; (3) the Commission will be authorised to deploy the suspension mechanism on its own initiative.
The grounds allowing for a suspension have also been extended. These include a reduction in the cooperation of the third country in question in terms of readmission, in particular a substantial increase in refusal rates of readmission requests (including for nationals of other countries who transited through the third country in question), and a substantial increase in risks to the public order and internal security of the member states. Use of this mechanism will also be made easier by shortening the reference periods and lead times, a provision which will speed up the procedure.
The Commissioner for Migration, Dimitris Avramopoulos, said that it was now over to the European Parliament to define its own position, so that inter-institutional negotiations can begin.
No decision on visa exemption for four third countries. On Friday, the ministers did not make a decision to grant a visa-free regime to four third countries for which the Commission has already made a formal proposal: Georgia, Kosovo, Ukraine and, in particular, Turkey. Nonetheless, Dijkhoff stress that much progress had been made by these four countries, so that a visa liberalisation appears to be “nearly in sight”, as long as they are able to demonstrate, over the coming weeks, that they “meet all the criteria” required.
On Turkey, Avramopoulos took pains to mollify the concerns expressed, at the European Parliament in particular (see EUROPE 11548). “Turkey needs to meet all the conditions which have been set”, he stressed. He referred to the Turkish law, approved the day before, which anticipates the entry into force of the clause on third-country nationals of the EU/Turkey agreement on readmissions and which constitutes a “benchmark” in the visa liberalisation process. “This clearly shows that Turkey, like the EU, is sticking to its commitment to the 18 March agreement”, he added. For his part, Bernard Cazeneuve, the French home affairs minister, said that there was “unanimity among the governments (…) and an agreement with the Commission stating that the criteria need to be strictly met” before Turkey is granted a visa-free regime.
Visa liberalisation for Georgia seems to be going well. “Georgia has met all the criteria, but it is now up to the EP and the Council to make a definitive decision”, Avramopoulos said. As for Kosovo, there are still two outstanding preconditions: delimiting its borders with Montenegro and stepping up the fight against corruption and organised crime. (Original version in French by Maëlle Didion)