On Wednesday 14 March, the European Commission proposed to reform the EU’s common visa policy to make it easier for legitimate travellers to obtain a visa to come to Europe, and to strengthen security measures in order to prevent abusive use of visas. In this regulation, however, the Commission also proposed using visa policy and visa issuance to punish third countries that do not wish to cooperate for the return of their nationals who are in an irregular situation in the EU.
This is a problem for some member states. France has a problem of this kind with Mali, a source explained last week. The Commission has therefore implemented a measure requested by the European Council in June 2017 to use visas as a means of pressure on third countries that do not respect the legal obligation to take back their nationals.
It proposes that a new mechanism should be set in place to trigger application of stricter measures for the processing of visas when a partner country fails to cooperate sufficiently for readmission of irregular migrants, including travellers who entered the territory lawfully after obtaining a visa but who have outstayed the duration of validity of that visa.
Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos pointed out that the right to request visas for nationals of these problematical countries would not be brought into question but that the Commission may, in collaboration with the member states, decide on more restrictive application of certain visa code provisions, for example, concerning the maximum time limit for processing requests, the duration of validity of visas issued, the cost of visa fees and exemption of those fees for some travellers, such as diplomats.
In practical terms, the Commission could decide to raise the level of visa fees, the number of documents to be produced, or increase the visa processing time or reduce the validity of the visa to be issued.
Member states may notify a problem with a member state and the Commission will have one month in which to analyse that request and envisage a possible response.
The Commission will, moreover, carry out a “regular assessment of the way third parties cooperate on readmission”, taking into account indicators such as: - the number of return decisions regarding citizens of a given third country who are in an illegal situation in the Union; - the number of effective returns expressed as a percentage of the number of decisions ordering return; - and the number of requests for readmission accepted by the third country, expressed as a percentage of the number of requests actually made.
Simplified procedure for “trusted regular” travellers
In addition, changes proposed aim to establish swifter and more flexible procedures by shortening the time required for adopting a decision on a visa request from 15 to 10 days. Travellers will have the possibility to submit their request up to 6 months prior to scheduled travel, instead of three months at present, and to fill in and sign their request by electronic means.
The text also provides for multiple entry visas together with a longer duration of validity for regular, trusted travellers. The duration of validity will increase from one to five years. There will be repeated controls to check whether the conditions of entry have been respected by travellers.
For short-stay tourist visas, “member states will be allowed to issue single-entry visas directly at external land and sea borders under temporary, seasonal schemes subject to strict conditions”. Such visas will be valid for a maximum stay of seven days, in the member state of issuance only.
€20 more per visa
In parallel to such measures, the proposal provides for additional resources for strengthening security, including by proposing to increase the visa tariff by €20, from €60 to €80. This increase must make it possible to “maintain adequate levels of consular staff worldwide to ensure stronger security screenings, as well as the upgrading of IT equipment and software”. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)