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PURPOSE: to conclude
the Agreement between the European Community and Barbados on the short-stay
visa waiver.. LEGISLATIVE
ACT: Council Decision 2009/898/EC on the conclusion of the Agreement between
the European Community and Barbados on the short-stay visa waiver. CONTENT: by
this Decision, the Council approves the Agreement between the European
Community and Barbados on the short-stay visa waiver on behalf of the
Community. The content of
this agreement can be summarised as follows: Purpose: this agreement provides for visa-free travel for the citizens of
the European Union and for the citizens of Barbados when travelling to the
territory of the other Contracting Party for a maximum period of three months
during a six months period. European
citizens are already exempt from the visa obligation by Barbados, however for
different periods. A provision has been included in the Agreement stating
that Barbados may suspend or terminate the Agreement only in respect of all
the Member States of the European Community and, reciprocally, the Community
may also suspend or terminate the Agreement only in respect of all of its
Member States. The specific situation of the United Kingdom and Ireland is
reflected in the preamble. Scope: the visa waiver covers all categories of persons (ordinary,
diplomatic or service/official passport holders) travelling for all kinds of
purposes, except for the purpose of carrying out a paid activity. For this
latter category, each Member State and also Barbados remains free to impose
the visa requirement on the citizens of the other Party in accordance with
the applicable Community or national law. In order to ensure harmonised
implementation, a joint declaration is attached to the Agreement on the
interpretation of the category of persons travelling for the purpose of
carrying out a paid activity. Duration of
stay: the agreement takes into account the
situation of the Member States that do not yet apply the Schengen acquis in full.
As long as they are not part of the Schengen area without internal borders,
the visa waiver confers a right for the nationals of Barbados to stay for
three months on the territory of each of those Member States (Cyprus,
Bulgaria, Romania), independently of the period calculated for the whole
Schengen area. Territorial
application: in the case of France and the
Netherlands, the visa waiver would entitle nationals of the six countries to
stay only in those Member States’ European territories. The UK and Ireland
are not taking part in the adoption of this Decision and are not bound by it
or subject to its application. It should be
noted that this Agreement, signed on behalf of the Community on 28 May 2009,
has been provisionally applied since that date subject to its
conclusion at a later date, in accordance with Council
Decision 2009/479/EC. ENTRY INTO FORCE: the Agreement enters
into force when all the necessary formalities have been completed.
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