Europese buitengrenzen gaan makkelijker open voor regelmatige passanten Schengen-gebied (en)

The European Commission has adopted at the end of August two proposals for EP and Council Decisions establishing a simplified regime for the control at the external borders of third country nationals requiring visa, based on the unilateral recognition of certain types of documents. The recognition regime will be limited to the purpose of transit through the territory of Member States.

In particular, the proposals concern the unilateral recognition:

• a) 

  by new Member States of visas and residence permits issued by Schengen States and similar documents issued by other new Member State(s); this regime should be implemented during the transitory period till the full integration of new Member States into the Schengen area;

• b) 

  by the Member States of certain residence permits issued by Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

"With the proposals for a `transit package'" Vice-President Franco Frattini i, responsible for Justice, Freedom and Security stated, "the Commission wants to push through an adequate solution, one that does not undermine the essential principles and the high level of security of the Schengen area, but at the same time one that responds closely to the specific administrative needs of the Member States. The `package' proposes to achieve this by establishing a facilitating regime for the control at the external borders of specific categories of third country nationals, dispensing them from the obligation to have transit visas when they move through the territory of the Union".

In the framework of the common EU visa policy, Member States that are part of the Schengen area mutually recognise each others short stay visa: a visa issued by one Schengen Member State is valid, in principle, for entry into and short stay on the territory of the other Schengen Member States. Also a residence permit issued by a Schengen Member State, on the basis of the principle of equivalence between a residence permit and a visa, allows entering, transiting and staying for a period of up to three months on the territory of the others.

On the basis of the current legislation:

• a third country national who is holder of a visa issued by a Schengen Member State still requires a national visa from a Member State that joined the EU in 2004 and is not yet full part of Schengen, in order to enter, transit or stay on the territory of the latter;
• a third country national who is holder of a residence permit issued by Switzerland or Liechtenstein requires a visa for entering the territory of a Member State, even if the third country national only transits via a Member State to his country of origin for his yearly holidays.

These situations put a heavy administrative burden respectively on the consular offices of the Member States that joined the EU in 2004 and on the consulates of all MS in Switzerland/Liechtenstein.

The Commission's proposals are supported by the consideration that these specific categories of persons represent a low risk for Member States as they have been previously submitted to strict controls and screening before the issuing of these documents.

The first Decision, addressed to the ten new Member States, proposes the introduction of a specific regime allowing them to dispense third country nationals, holders of visas and residence permits issued by a Schengen State or similar documents issued by other(s) new Member State(s), from the obligation to be in a possession of a national transit visa when crossing their territory. The proposal limits the duration of transit to five days. It covers all third country nationals submitted to a visa obligation according to Regulation 539/2001. It will be implemented by new Member States on an optional basis: new Member States have the possibility either to implement the new instrument or to continue issuing national visas as requested by the 2003 Accession Act. These rules will be applicable until the full integration of the new Member States into the Schengen area. At that moment, the principles of mutual recognition of visas and of equivalence between residence permits and visa will fully apply.

The second Decision, addressed to all Member States, proposes the establishment of a simplified regime for the control at the external borders of third country nationals, holders of certain residence permits issued by Switzerland and Liechtenstein, dispensing them from the obligation to have a visa for the transit through their territory. Similar to the first proposal, the duration of transit is limited to five days. All third country nationals submitted to a visa obligation according to Regulation 539/2001 are beneficiaries of the simplified regime. The implementation of these rules is mandatory for Member States fully participating into the Schengen area and optional for the new Member States. The common recognition rules will become mandatory for the latter also after their full integration into the Schengen area. These rules will be applicable until the full integration of Switzerland into the Schengen area as from that moment, the principles of mutual recognition of visas and of equivalence between residence permits and visa will fully apply.