What is the European Commission’s role in visa policy implementation?
The common visa policy is a key component of the Schengen Area, with all 27 Schengen States applying the same visa rules. The role of the European Commission is to develop, monitor and implement the EU common visa policy, regulating which non-EU nationals need a visa to enter the Schengen Area for short stays of a maximum of 90 days in any 180-day period. When someone enters the Schengen Area, the 180-day period starts. This means that someone can enter the Schengen Area as many times as they want, but only stay for a total of 90 days, every 180 days. Visas for stays exceeding 90 days remain subject to national procedures. A Schengen visa is generally valid for every state of the Schengen Area.
Regulation (EU) 2018/1806 of the European Parliament and Council establishes which third country nationals must be in possession of a visa when crossing the external borders of the EU and which are exempt from that requirement. “Annex I” of that Regulation lists the countries for which a visa is required, and “Annex II” lists the countries for which there is a visa exemption. Individual member states can further include derogations from the Annex I, for example for holders of diplomatic or service passports, refugees or stateless persons legally residing in a third country, or school pupils. A common list set down the countries whose citizens must have a visa even when they simply transit through the international (non-Schengen) part of an EU airport, called Airport Transit Visa or ATV. Member states can also impose individual ATV requirements on non-EU countries that are not included in this common list.
Currently, 61 non-EU countries, two special administrative regions of China (Hong Kong and Macao) and one territorial authority that is not recognised as a state by at least one EU Member State (Taiwan) are visa free. Kosovo, another territorial authority not recognised as a state by at least one EU Member State, will be gaining visa free status starting 1 January 2024.
Out of the 61 non-EU countries with a visa free-regime, 27 have visa waiver agreements with the EU.
Any Commission proposal to grant visa-free status to a third country is followed by a legislative procedure, involving both the Council and the Parliament. The Commission conducts an assessment based on a variety of criteria relating, among others, to irregular migration, public policy and security, economic benefit, in particular in terms of tourism and foreign trade, and the EU’s external relations with the relevant third countries, including, in particular, considerations of human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as the implications of regional coherence and reciprocity. New decisions on visa exemption are usually followed by bilateral negotiations on a visa waiver agreement.
The Community Code on Visas – commonly referred to as Visa Code – sets out the procedures and conditions for issuing short stay visas.
Operational instructions for the application of the Visa Code are further specified in the Handbook for the processing of visa applications and the modification of issued visas and the Handbook for the administrative management of visa processing.
The visa code also helps improve cooperation with third countries in readmissions of irregular migrants, through the visa leverage mechanism. Under this mechanism, when a third country does not cooperate sufficiently in the area of readmissions, restrictive measures related to the visa processing and the visa fee can be taken. Such measures have been adopted for nationals of The Gambia (Implementing Decision 1, Implementing Decision 2).
The EU has visa facilitation agreements in place with certain non-EU countries. Under this simplified visa regime, non-EU citizens enjoy facilitated procedures to obtain a visa to the Schengen area, such as lower visa fees.
However, visa facilitation agreements can be suspended when a non-EU countryno longer satisfies the conditions of the agreement. The general rules of the EU Visa Code then apply.
Suspensions can be triggered by an EU member state or by the European Commission. Currently two agreements are suspended: with Russia (full suspension of facilitation agreement) and with Belarus (partial suspension of facilitation agreement).
Visa facilitation agreements are linked to readmission agreements. Readmission agreements establish the procedures for the return to the EU or to the partner non-EU country of persons (own and third country nationals or stateless persons) in irregular situation.
EU States may also individually negotiate agreements on local bordertraffic with neighbouring non-EU countries. These agreements enable border residents of well-defined areas to cross the EU external borders, under certain conditions, without having to obtain a visa.
The Visa Suspension Mechanism, set out in Regulation No 1806/2018 (article 7), enables Member States to call for a temporary suspension of a visa exemption in case of a sudden and substantial surge in irregular migration. In that case, a Member State can notify the European Commission, which can then decide to trigger the suspension mechanism.
Since 2017, the Commission has been issuing annual reports under the Visa Suspension Mechanism. Currently the visa waiver agreement with Vanuatu has been suspended under the suspension mechanism.
The Commission has recently proposed the revision of the suspension mechanism via the proposal amending Regulation (EU) 2018/1806 as regards the revision of the suspension mechanism.
The EU aims at achieving full visa reciprocity with the non-EU countries whose nationals are exempt from the visa requirement. This means that EU citizens should not need a visa to visit countries whose citizens also do not need a visa to visit the Schengen area. For that purpose, a visa reciprocity mechanism is set out in Regulation No 1806/2018 (article 7). Currently, the EU has achieved visa reciprocity with all visa-free third countries, except the United States. Citizens of Bulgaria, Cyprus, and Romania still need a visa to visit the United States.
The Pact on Migration and Asylum proposed by the Commission in September 2020, set the objective of making the visa procedure fully digitalised by 2025. On 27 April 2022, the Commission presented a proposal on the digitalisation of the Schengen visa process, aiming to:
- replace the visa sticker and introduce the option to submit visa applications online through a European online visa platform,
- improve the visa application process,
- reduce the costs for EU countries and applicants.
The revised amending regulations 2023/2685 and 2023/2667 were adopted on 22 November 2023.
After a transition period of seven years, Member States will all have to use a common visa application platform to collect visa applications. This platform will allow applicants to carry out all steps of the application process, except the provision of biometrics (when necessary) and the verification of a new travel document. In addition, a digital visa will replace the visa sticker once the platform will become operational.
A portal prototype was created to test the future Schengen visa online platform. Find out more information on the dedicated Questions and answers webpage.
ETIAS stands for “European Travel Information and Authorisation System” and is meant to facilitate border control and security for visa exempt nationals traveling to the Schengen area. It is not a visa and is comparable to similar systems in the USA (ESTA), Canada (eTA), or Australia (eVisitor). Once active in 2025, visa exempt travellers will need to fill out an online form an pay a small fee before being able to travel to the Schengen area.
