On Wednesday 28 March, the representatives of the member states of the EU held an initial exchange of views on the new proposals of the European Commission on visas (see EUROPE 11981). According to one source, they appear to have expressed concerns over one aspect of the new rules: the capacity for member states to issue short-stay visas directly on their external borders.
On 14 March, the Commission suggested that in order to facilitate short-stay tourist travel, the member states could be authorised to issue single-entry visas directly on their external land and sea borders, under temporary or seasonal regimes and subject to strict conditions. These visas would be valid for a maximum period of seven days in the member state of issuance alone. However, this facility has not met with the enthusiasm of the member states, which have raised questions concerning the capacity to issue these short-stay visas on the external land borders, according to the same source reporting on discussions between ambassadors.
There was a degree of resistance, the source said, referring in passing to an attempt to introduce a similar mechanism in 2014, which failed at the Council due to questions raised concerning the security of such a mechanism. The same security concerns emerged during the debate, with some ten member states raising objections and most of them appearing generally less than bowled over by the proposal.
The Commission, the source explains, had withdrawn a proposed reform of the visa policy due to differences of opinion, but also in light of the migration context, which brought with it new challenges and was literally overrun in 2015 with arrivals of individuals fleeing the Syrian conflict.
Under the Commission's proposal, it would simply concern tourism visas issued for a short period (seven days) to nationals of countries with a land border with a Schengen country or a direct maritime connection (via ferry, for instance). However, the Commission stressed on 4 April that the regime could be created for member states that choose to opt in.
If planning to create temporary regimes of this kind, member states must notify the Commission in advance and clearly state the categories of the beneficiaries and geographical scope. The visas issued under these temporary regimes will allow access only to the territory of the member state of issuance, the institution stresses.
Concerning the other aspect of the reform, the link between granting visas and the efforts of third countries to readmit their citizens found residing illegally in the EU, however, there was a much warmer welcome for this procedure, which consists of reducing the number of visas issued to countries identified as insufficiently cooperative on returns, increasing the cost of visas or extending the time taken for these dossiers to be processed. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)