The Commission has proposed changing the current visa suspension mechanism to allow Member States to better react to abuses of visa-free travel.
The Commission is proposing to
- extend the list of reasons to suspend visa-free regimes
- extend the procedure to allow more time for remedial actions
- strengthen the Commission’s monitoring and reporting obligations
The EU currently has a visa-free regime with 60 non-EU countries. Visa-free travel brings significant benefits, and boosts travel and tourism. At the same time, the evolving geopolitical context has brought new challenges linked to visa-free travel, and it is crucial that the EU is well-equipped to address situations of abuse of visa-free travel.
The 6th report on the Visa Suspension Mechanism has also been published. This report monitors the EU visa-free regime with Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine, as well as with the visa-free countries of the Pacific and the Caribbean, who have so-called ‘golden passport’ schemes. The report found that all eight countries need to take further action to align their visa policy with the EU's and continue their efforts to prevent unfounded asylum applications and irregular migration. The report also highlighted the Commission's concerns about investor citizenship schemes that are promoting visa-free access to the EU.
For more information
Press release: Commission proposes a more robust suspension mechanism to visa-free travel
Questions and answers on changes to the visa suspension mechanism
Details
- Publication date
- 18 October 2023
- Author
- Directorate-General for Communication