On Wednesday 26 February, the French government proposed simultaneous visa restrictions throughout Europe, reported AFP, as it examined the difficulties encountered with Algiers following an attack committed on its soil by an undocumented Algerian national who had been refused entry ten times by his country of origin.
France would like to see a reduction in the issuing of visas “by all European countries at the same time” for states “that do not take back their expelled nationals”, said French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot.
On the other hand, he proposes that the EU should lower customs duties for countries with which cooperation on the return of their nationals improves, “a particularly powerful lever” in his view.
The European Code on Visas already includes Article 25 on cooperation on readmission, which makes it possible to tighten the granting of visas on the basis of requests from Member States and a proposal from the Commission. Regular discussions take place in the EU Council on countries on a ‘watch list’.
When contacted, the European Commission had not responded by the time of going to press. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)