On Friday 1 February, three days after the European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties (see EUROPE 12182), the Member States' ambassadors to the European Union (Coreper) adopted the Council of the European Union’s mandate on legislation allowing British citizens to travel to the EU without a visa after 30 March 2019, provided that the United Kingdom applies the same regime to Europeans and on a non-discriminatory basis, as the United States does with several EU Member States.
In November, the European Commission proposed such flexibility for British citizens, regardless of the withdrawal scenario, i.e. with or without an agreement to withdraw from the EU. The aim is to include the United Kingdom on the list of non-EU countries exempt from visas. On Tuesday, the Committee on Civil Liberties also accepted this regime, regardless of the withdrawal scenario for the country.
The United Kingdom will have to apply the same reciprocity and Member States will also be able to issue visa requirements for the British, if the United Kingdom decides to reintroduce visa requirements for Europeans. However, British nationals will have to pay a travel authorisation fee of €7 to travel to the EU under the new ETIAS screening rules that apply to non-EU countries whose nationals are exempt from visas.
United Kingdom’s fury over Gibraltar
The formulation of the Council's mandate, and in particular its provisions on Gibraltar, has in any case provoked anger from the British Government. The mandate stipulates that the new 'visa-free' rules apply equally to the United Kingdom and the British in Gibraltar, who will also not need a visa. But the text underlines in a footnote that Gibraltar is a "British Crown colony" and that there is a "controversy" between Spain and the United Kingdom over Gibraltar's sovereignty. Text added at Spain's request and opposed by the United Kingdom, but the United Kingdom has no right of scrutiny over this type of legislation which falls under the Schengen acquis. On Friday, no other country opposed this wording. The UK expressed its dissatisfaction in the Coreper minutes. On the other hand, the European Parliament’s mandate does not mention Gibraltar. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)