advertentieThe European Commission welcomes the provisional political agreement reached today between the European Parliament and the Council on the revision of the visa suspension mechanism proposed by the Commission in October 2023. The revised rules are a significant step toward effectively deterring and addressing situations of abuse of visa-free travel.
Visa-free travel is essential for the Schengen area, providing economic and social benefits to Europe. However, the changing geopolitical landscape presents new challenges related to visa-free travel, including irregular arrivals due to misalignment with EU visa policy, investor citizenship schemes in visa-free countries, and hybrid threats like state-sponsored manipulation of migrants. The newly agreed rules will enable quicker and more decisive responses to these challenges.
The updated rules include:
- New grounds to suspend visa-free regimes: The visa suspension mechanism can now be activated not only for sudden increases in irregular migration, lack of readmission cooperation, or security risks but also for insufficient alignment with EU visa policy, hybrid threats, investor citizenship schemes, and deteriorating external relations between the EU and non-EU visa-free countries;
- Lower thresholds to trigger the suspension mechanism, facilitating action against misuse of visa-free arrangements;
- A swifter and more flexible procedure, allowing for faster reactions in emergencies (such as a surge in arrivals or security threats) and providing more time for partner countries to address issues;
- Stronger monitoring and reporting obligations: The Commission will report to the European Parliament and the Council on any visa-free countries facing challenges.
Next steps
The Regulation must be formally adopted by the European Parliament and the Council before it takes effect, which will occur 20 days after its publication in the Official Journal of the EU.
Background
The proposal to revise the Visa Suspension Mechanism was announced in October 2023. The EU has a visa-free regime with 60 non-EU countries, allowing their nationals to enter the Schengen area for short stays of up to 90 days in any 180-day period without a visa.
The Visa Suspension Mechanism was established in 2013 to enable temporary suspension of visa exemption in cases of sudden and substantial increases in irregular migration. It was revised in 2017 to simplify the notification process for Member States, allowing the Commission to initiate the suspension mechanism independently.
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