In planning to strengthen the mechanism for the suspension of visa-free regimes, the European Commission begins consultations with the Council EU and the European Parliament.
This was announced on May 30 by the press service of the EC, writes “European Truth”. The principles of the current mechanism are set out in Article 8 of the Visa Regulations, the main purpose of which is to provide a temporary suspension of the visa-free regime in the event of a sudden and significant increase in illegal migration or risks to the security of the European Union.
The visa-free regime brings significant economic, social and cultural benefits to EU member states and third countries, the EC notes. However, the experience of past years shows that a visa-free regime can cause significant challenges – both in terms of migration and in the field of security. The European Commission notes:
“Lack of coherence with the EU visa policy can turn a country with a visa-free regime into a transit hub for illegal entries into the European Union. This happened in the case of visa-free entry to the Western Balkans by citizens of countries that have a visa regime with the EU, which led to an increase in the number of illegal entries into the European Union in 2022″.
High security risks are also created by schemes for granting citizenship to investors, which are used by third countries with a visa-free regime. They are associated with organized crime infiltration, money laundering, tax evasion and corruption. Existing schemes allow citizens of non-EU countries to acquire the citizenship of a visa-free country and enter the EU, bypassing the procedure for obtaining short-stay visas.
To overcome these challenges, the EU wants to change the current rules for monitoring the functioning of the visa-free regime with third countries. Revising them may include:
- new grounds for suspension of visa-free travel, taking into account emerging risks;
- adapting thresholds to trigger the suspension mechanism;
- creating a more flexible and efficient procedure;
- strengthening provisions for monitoring and reporting.
It is expected that in autumn, after discussions with the European Parliament and the Council of the EU, the European Commission will submit a legislative proposal to revise the mechanism for suspension of visa-free travel.
To date, the European Union has a visa-free regime with 61 non-EU countries. 25 countries have visa waiver agreements with the EU, and 8 have been exempted following the successful completion of the visa liberalization dialogue. Among these states is Ukraine.
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