BRUSSELS, 30 MAY 2006 (Sq de Luxembourg 46, DG JLS Building, Fortescue meeting room )
PARTICIPANTS FROM THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION.
DGJLS:
Mr. JAN DE CEUSTER, HEAD OF UNIT
Ms. DAPHNE GOGOU, POLICY DESK OFFICER (VISA FACILITATION) Mr. DIEDERIK PAALMAN, POLICY DESK OFFICER (READMISSION) Mr. JORGE ESPINA, POLICY DESK OFFICER (COORDINATION)
DG ELARG:
Mr. HANS RUNDEGREN, POLICY DESK OFFICER (COORDINATION) Mr. JOSE LUIS SANCHEZ ALEGRE , POLICY DESK OFFICER
MORNING SESSION: READMISSION FROM 10.00 -13.00 Commission :
• General presentation on EU common readmission policy
• Presentation on scope and contents of EC readmission agreements
Bosnia and Herzegovina :
• Presentation on BiH readmission policy
AFTERNOON SESSION: VISA FACILITATION FROM 15.00 -18.00 Commission side:
• Presentation of the European visa policy/Regulation 539/2001, Criteria, Common
Consular Instructions
• Current rules on visa facilitation
• Hague programme, Visa facilitation Agreement as a new instrument, common
approach
• Western Balkans /Salzburg Communication
• Perspective of a Visa Facilitation Agreement between BiH and EU
Bosnia and Herzegovina:
• General introduction on BiH visa policy
• Problems encountered by BiH citizens for obtaining Schengen visa -facilitations
requested for certain categories of persons.
COMMISSION'S services Non-Paper
European short-stay visa policy /Current rules on visa facilitation
1. Since the entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam, which introduced a new
Title IV into the TEC called ''Visas, asylum, immigration and other policies related to
free movement of persons", Community competence extends to all aspects of visa
policy.
Regulation No 539/2001', lays down a list of third countries whose nationals must be in possession of visas when crossing the external borders of the Member States and a list of those whose nationals are exempt from that requirement. The Regulation is applied by all the Member States (except Ireland and the United Kingdom) as well as by Iceland and Norway.
The regulation provides (in Article 4 ) that Member States may provide for exceptions both from the visa requirement and from the exemption from the visa requirement in respect of a number of categories of person listed exhaustively : holders of diplomatic passports, official-duty passports and other official passports; civilian air and sea crew; the flight crew and attendants on emergency or rescue flights and other helpers in the event of disaster or accident; the civilian crew of ships navigating in international waters; the holders of laissez-passer issued by some intergovernmental international organisations to their officials.
The implementation of this ability to provide exceptions from the visa requirement falls under the competence of each Member State. For the holders of diplomatic passports, official-duty passports and other passports, there is a legal particularity which should be noted. If a Member State intends to apply the exception of the visa requirement for third country nationals for whom requests for a visa are subject to prior consultation of other Schengen countries, it must inform the other Schengen partners of its intention, and the latter must agree to the intended measure.
2. The procedures and conditions for issuing short-stay visas are laid down by the
Common Consular Instructions (CCI)2, as amended by various recent Council
decisions. When delivering visas, the competent Member State authorities apply the
1 Council Regulation (EC) N° 539/2001 of 15 March 2001 listing the third countries whose nationals must be in possession of visas when crossing the external borders and the countries whose nationals are exempt from that requirement, OJ L 81, 21.3.2001, p.l -as last modified by Regulation (EC) N° 851 2005. JO L141, 4.6.2005, p.3.
: Last updated version of the CCI in OJ C 326 of 22.12.2005.
CCI, which provide the legal framework for decisions taken on individual requests for
a visa.
2.1 The CCI laid down the basic rules for issuing a short term uniform visa:
-the visa application should in principle be submitted to the consular services of the Member States. A visa may be issued at the border only in exceptional circumstances;
- the visa application should in principle be submitted to the consular service of the
Member State that is the main destination of the visit or, failing that, to the consulate
of the country first entered;
- the visa applicant should in principle submit his visa application in person;
- the visa applicant must establish the purpose and conditions of his stay by furnishing
appropriate evidence.
2.2. The CCI provides means of simplifying visa procedures. Such means have a bearing on different aspects of visa procedures. Some of these, which are already provided for by the CCI, are implemented by Member States. Others are not foreseen by the CCI and are a matter for the Member States alone.
The use by Member States of simplified visa procedures must not undermine, at a local level, the objective of a harmonised approach, and thereby lead to instances of visa shopping. To this end, consular authorities must consult each other within the framework of local consular co-operation.
It should be noted that the different simplified procedures foreseen by the CCI seek to apply to particular categories of people requesting a visa, according to the characteristics of the categories concerned.
- Waiving the obligation for the visa applicant to appear in person
The CCI, parts III and VIII of which were supplemented by Council decision of 12 July 2002 (OJ L 187, 16.7.2002), henceforth provide that it is possible to derogate from the principle that the applicant must appear in person "in so far as, where there is no reasonable doubt as to the good faith of the applicant, the purpose of the journey or the applicant's actual intention of returning to the country of origin, a reputable and solvent entity, organising trips for groups, supplies the diplomatic mission or consular post with the necessary documentation and vouches, with reasonable reliability, for the applicant's good faith, the purpose of the journey and the applicant's actual intention of returning".
This possibility of derogating from the above principle, which will have to be implemented in a harmonised manner as part of local consular cooperation, has the potential to make life much easier for visa applicants, and especially for tourists using the services of travel agents.
- Dispensing with the need to submit certain documentary evidence in support of the
application
The CCI provide that the number and nature of the supporting documents depend on the risk of illegal immigration and on local circumstances, and state that checks may be reduced in the case of applicants recognised as being bona fide travellers.
The reduction of checks may thus constitute a means of simplification for the applicants concerned, who may be excused from having to submit certain supporting documents.
- Delivering multiple entry visas or visas with a long period of validity
The CCI provide that short-stay, multiple entry visas, valid for one year, may be issued to persons who provide the necessary guarantees. The typical recipients of this type of visa are businessmen who travel frequently to various Schengen countries. Exceptionally, a visa may be issued for a period of more than one year, with a maximum of five years.
The advantage of being issued with this type of visa is that there is no need to repeat the visa application formalities. In view of the conditions laid down by the CCI for their issue, such visas are not destined to become widespread.
- Reducing or waiving handling fees
The CCI, as last amended by Council decisions 2002/44 of 20 December 2001 (OJ L20 of 234.1.2002) and 2003/454 of 13 June 2003 (OJ L152 of 20.6.2003), provide that, in individual cases, the amount of handling fees may reduced or waived in accordance with national law "when this protects cultural interests, in the field of foreign policy, development policy or other areas of vital public interest". It should be noted that the reducing or waiving of handling fees provided for by the CCI is meant to be applied to individual cases or specific categories of visa applicant and not to given nationalities of visa applicant.
- Cutting the length of time it takes to issue a visa
The CCI leave it to the Member States to decide how their consular services should be run. The Member States may therefore take measures, in the form of material and human resources, to ensure in general or for specific categories of visa applicant that visas are issued rapidly.