On December 15, the European Parliament approved of new rules that provided for quicker restoration of visa requirements for non-EU nationals in events when EU member states faced surge of illegal immigration or security risks.
“We have succeeded in creating a more flexible and operational tool, while ensuring respect for human rights and a key role for the European Parliament. I am confident that following the approval of the suspension mechanism, the Council will cooperate fully to ensure that the proposals to grant visa waivers to Georgia and Ukraine are processed smoothly, given that both countries fulfilled the requested criteria some time ago”, – Agustin Diaz de Mera (EPP, ES) said.
His report was approved by 485 votes to 132 with 21 abstentions, according to the European Parliament’s information bureau in Latvia.
According to new rules, EU can restore visa regime with a third country in one or more of the following cases: if there is a substantial increase in the number of nationals of that country that are refused entry to or staying irregularly on EU territory; if there is a substantial increase in unfounded asylum applications; if there is a decrease in cooperation on readmissions (returns of migrants), or if there is an increase in risks or imminent threats to public policy or internal security related to nationals of the third country concerned.
Both EU member states and the European Commission will be authorized to waiver visa suspension mechanism. It is mentioned in the report, however, that the decision for the temporary restoration of visa regime should be based on “justified and objective data”.
Following a notification by a member state (or a request by a simple majority of member states), or based on its own report, the Commission will have one month in which to decide to suspend a visa waiver for nine months. This decision will take effect automatically.
During the suspension period, the Commission should try, together with the country concerned, to find solutions to the circumstances that led to the suspension.
The Commission will also be in charge of monitoring the situation in visa-exempt countries and reporting, at least once a year, to Parliament and the Council on whether they still fulfill visa waiver conditions such as respect for human rights.
If the situation persists, the Commission will have to present, at the latest two months before the end of the nine-month period, a proposal to prolong the temporary restoration of visa requirements for an additional 18 months. Both MEPs and member states may object to this decision.
The Commission may also decide at any point to present a legislative proposal to move a non-EU country from the list of countries exempt from visa requirements to the list of those that are subject to them. This transfer would need to be approved by both the Parliament and the Council.
This revision of the visa suspension mechanism, enshrined in EU legislation since 2013, is linked to the proposals to grant visa-free access to the EU to Georgia, already agreed by MEPs and the Council, as well as to Ukraine and Kosovo.
The draft regulation still has to be formally approved by the Council. It will come into effect twenty days after its publication in the EU Official Journal.
The visa suspension mechanism will not apply to the UK or Ireland. (BNN/Business World Magazine)
