On Wednesday 13 March, the Member States approved the EU Council’s draft mandate on the suspension of visa-free travel for stays of less than 3 months granted to third country nationals whose subsequent stay in the EU would be irregular or pose security problems (see EUROPE 13274/1).
The EU grants 61 regimes of this type. The Commission proposed a new Regulation in October to address the risks posed by a number of visa-exempt third countries with citizenship-by-investment programmes or plans to set up such programmes.
The Regulation, which revises a previous 2013 tool deemed unusable by the Member States, introduces new grounds for suspension such as: - the lack of alignment of a third country benefiting from a visa waiver regime with EU policy; - the operation of an investor citizenship scheme under which citizenship is granted without any real link to the third country concerned; - hybrid threats and gaps in legislation or procedures relating to document security.
The Member States have decided to also include the possibility of suspending the visa waiver regime in the event of a significant and sudden deterioration in the EU’s external relations with a third country, in particular as regards human rights and fundamental freedoms, explains a press release.
The Member States have generally hardened the Commission’s position, in particular on the suspension criterion linked to a substantial increase in the number of unfounded asylum applications from nationals of a third country with a low rate of asylum recognition. This rate will be considered low at 20% (instead of the proposed 4%).
With regard to the thresholds for triggering the mechanism, which quantify the increase in cases of refusal of entry and overstay, unfounded asylum applications or serious criminal offences, the Member States have set this threshold at 30% (compared with 50%).
The duration of the temporary suspension of the visa waiver has also been extended from 9 to 12 months, and may be extended for a further 24 months (18 months in the Commission proposal).
In practice, a Member State will be able to notify the Commission that it has been faced with a particular reason for suspension for a period of at least 2 months, compared with the same period in the previous year or the last 2 months prior to the implementation of the visa waiver regime.
The Commission will have to consult the other Member States (in particular on the risks to diplomatic relations with the third countries concerned) and Frontex, and request the opinion of the European Parliament in order to formulate a proposal for suspension, or a simple majority of Member States will suffice at the request of the Commission.
Parliament has not yet adopted its mandate. Slovenian Matjaž Nemec (S&D) is the rapporteur.
Link to mandate: https://aeur.eu/f/bat (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)