Coreper approves revision of the visa-free regime suspension mechanism
At a meeting of the Council’s Permanent Representatives Committee (COREPER), Member States agreed their position on a draft regulation which updates a mechanism that allows the EU to suspend visa-free travel for third countries whose nationals are exempt from the visa obligation when travelling to the Schengen area.
The EU currently has a visa-free regime in place with 61 third countries. Nationals from these countries can enter the Schengen area for short stays of up to 90 days in any 180-day period without a visa. A suspension mechanism – in place in its current form since 2018 – works as a safeguard against the abuse of visa-free travel. It allows for the EU to temporarily suspend the visa exemption under certain conditions.
This Wednesday, 13 March 2024, the Member States' permanent representatives (COREPER) agreed their position on a draft regulation which updates the current suspension mechanism. The following elements have been revised:
- Grounds to suspend visa-free regime: Under the updated mechanism, the EU will be given new grounds to suspend the visa-free regime, including a lack of alignment of a visa-free third country with the EU’s visa policy, in cases where this may lead to increased arrivals to the EU e.g. because of this country’s geographical proximity to the EU. Member states have decided to also include the possibility of suspending the visa-free regime in case of a significant and abrupt deterioration in the EU’s external relations with a third country, in particular when it relates to human rights and fundamental freedoms.
- Suspension thresholds: The thresholds to trigger the suspension mechanism were revised, for example, the threshold to assess if an asylum recognition rate should be considered as low has been fixed at 20% (instead of the proposed 4%).
- Duration of the temporary suspension: The duration of the temporary suspension of the visa exemption has been increased from 9 to 12 months and can be extended by another 24 months (instead of 18 months under the current system).
- Reference period: The reference period for identifying the existence of circumstances that may lead to a suspension has been amended to cover at least two months.
Today’s agreement will allow the Council to enter into negotiations with the European Parliament, once it has settled on its own position, in order to agree on a final legal text.
For further details, please read the press release from the Council of the EU.