MEPs back visa-free travel deal for 16 ACP countries, UAE, Colombia and Peru
Citizens from 16 African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries, the United Arab Emirates, Colombia and Peru should be able to travel to the EU without a visa, under the amended EU visa regulation, as agreed by negotiators for Parliament and the Greek Presidency of the Council on 4 February and endorsed by the Civil Liberties Committee on Wednesday. The visa waivers shall apply from the date of entry into force of an agreement on visa exemption to be concluded with the EU.
The 2001 visa regulation lists non-EU countries whose nationals need a visa to travel to the EU's border-free Schengen area (the “negative list”) and those whose nationals do not need a visa for this purpose (the “positive list”).
"This agreement has a double significance: on the one hand, we take a step forward towards enhanced cooperation with these countries, and on the other, we send a positive message to citizens by clarifying the criteria for including third countries in the positive list", said rapporteur Mariya Gabriel (EPP, BG), who led the negotiations for Parliament.
Nationals from 16 ACP countries exempted from visa requirements
Nationals of 16 ACP countries which are parties to the Cotonou Agreement with the EU will be able to travel visa-free to the EU. These countries are Dominica, Grenada, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu, as envisaged in the initial Commission proposal.
Parliament’s suggestion that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) also be included in the positive list was taken up by the Council of Ministers and the European Commission and included in the agreement.
Clearer criteria for visa exemption
The agreement includes a new article defining clearer criteria for including third countries in the positive list. "The purpose of this regulation is to determine those third countries whose nationals are subject to or exempt from the visa requirement, based on a case-by-case assessment of a variety of criteria relating, inter alia, to illegal immigration, public policy and security, the economic benefits, in particular in terms of tourism and foreign trade, and the Union's external relations with the relevant third countries including, in particular, human rights and fundamental freedoms considerations, as well as the implications of regional coherence and reciprocity", it says.
Columbia and Peru added to the positive list on specific conditions
The inclusion of Colombia and Peru in the visa-free travel list was accepted on condition that the Commission further assesses the situation in both countries with regard to the criteria set out in this new article before it concludes bilateral visa waiver agreements with them. The European Parliament gave its green light to trade deals with these two Latin American countries in December 2012.
Reciprocity
The visa exemption should be reciprocated under visa-waiver agreements, enabling all EU citizens who wish to travel to these countries to do so without visas.
The visa waivers for nationals of the 16 ACP countries, UAE, Colombia and Peru "shall apply from the date of entry into force of an agreement on visa exemption to be concluded with the European Union", says the text.
British citizens residing in Overseas Territories
Specific categories of British citizens who currently must obtain visas (an estimated 300,000 people, most residing in British Overseas Territories such as Bermuda and the Turks and Caicos islands), will also be exempted from the visa requirement.
Next steps
The agreement is to be put to a vote by Parliament as a whole in April.
Result of the vote: 49 votes in favour, one against.
Contacts:
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Isabel Teixeira NADKARNI