Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
The Council of Member States and the European Parliament have agreed to update the mechanism that allows the European Union to suspend visa-free travel for third-country nationals exempt from applying for a visa when traveling to the Schengen Area. A European statement distributed in Brussels on Tuesday morning said, "With this amended law, the EU will be better positioned to respond to situations where visa-free travel is abused or conflicts with its interests." New grounds for suspending visa-free travel
The Council and the European Parliament agreed on a number of new grounds that will trigger the suspension mechanism:
Incompatibility of a country's visa waiver regime with EU visa policy, in cases where this could lead—given its geographical proximity to the EU—to an increase in the number of unauthorized arrivals of nationals of other third countries.
Activation of an investor citizenship program, whereby citizenship is granted to persons with no genuine connection to the third country in question, in exchange for pre-determined payments or investments.
Hybrid threats and shortcomings in document security legislation and procedures.
Deterioration of the EU's external relations with a third country, particularly with regard to human rights and fundamental freedoms or serious violations of the UN Charter.
These grounds for suspension are in addition to existing grounds, such as an increase in the number of asylum applications from nationals of a country with a low asylum acceptance rate, or an increase in the number of third-country nationals who They are refused entry or are found to have overstayed. Suspension Mechanism Triggering Thresholds
The new legislation will include thresholds for some grounds for suspension. This will provide greater clarity on when visa-free travel will begin, increasing the mechanism's effectiveness.
The 30% threshold sets out significant increases in refusals of entry, overstays, asylum applications, and serious criminal offenses.
The threshold for assessing whether an asylum application rate should be considered low is set at 20%.
Duration of Visa Suspension
The Council and the European Parliament want to increase the duration of the temporary suspension of visa exemption from the current 9 months to 12 months. This initial period could be extended for a further 24 months (instead of 18 months under the current system). This temporary suspension phase would allow the European Commission to engage in dialogue with the third country so that the country concerned can address the circumstances that led to the suspension.
The EU could decide to permanently abolish the visa-free travel regime if the third country does not address the reasons that led to the temporary suspension.
Targeted Implementation of the Suspension Mechanism
The Council and the European Parliament also agreed to improve the mechanism by enabling restrictions on visa-free travel. Only on decision-makers responsible for violating fundamental rights and external relations obligations. Currently, all citizens are affected by the second phase of the suspension, but this may be disproportionate when the government is clearly responsible for the situation.
Under the new rules, the additional 24-month suspension phase will not automatically affect the entire population. Instead, in the above cases, the EU could decide to continue targeting government officials and diplomats.
According to the European statement, the provisional agreement now needs confirmation from both institutions before it can be formally adopted.
In response to the MEPs' reaction, a statement we received said, "Blocking the entry into the EU of diplomats and officials from third-country governments who violate international human rights law will be made easier under the new visa rules agreed this morning by negotiators from the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union.
The new rules expand the grounds for suspending visa-free travel with third countries. Thanks to the Socialists and Democrats, this includes—for the first time—serious violations of international law and standards, including international humanitarian law, gross violations of human rights, and hostile acts against one or more Member States or the Union. If adopted, the new rules will be another tool the EU can use to promote respect for human rights in third countries. According to Matjaz Nemec, MEP for the Social Democratic Alliance and Parliament's negotiator on the revision of the visa suspension mechanism, "Open visa policies are positive for Europe and other countries. But they are also valuable and can only be built on shared values. With this agreement, we are finally modernizing the visa suspension mechanism to strengthen our commitment to human rights and international law."
"Under these rules, we can more effectively activate visa suspension. Importantly, this now includes the option to take this step if a third country violates international or humanitarian law. It also allows the Commission to target these measures against diplomats and government officials responsible for violations, meaning innocent citizens and civil society are not unjustly punished." “In general, the revised visa suspension mechanism is another tool to deter other countries from undermining the international and humanitarian values ​​that the EU stands for.

There will be serious consequences when other countries do not meet our standards.” Among other updates, the Political Agreement improves the application of the visa suspension mechanism, providing a clear legal basis for targeting diplomats and government officials, rather than penalizing all third-country nationals. The Agreement also modernizes the mechanism, better aligning it with the requirements for granting visa exemptions to third countries in the first place.
Under the new rules, when considering the temporary suspension of visa-free travel to a third country, the European Commission must also assess the impact on civil society in that country. Civil society—such as activists and human rights defenders—are often subject to government pressure in third countries that do not respect human rights standards, and the new rules aim to ensure that civil society is not put at risk by the suspension of visa liberalization.
The Political Agreement on the Review of the Visa Suspension Mechanism also updates other factors that could lead to the suspension of visa exemptions, including the level of rejection of asylum applications.
The visa suspension mechanism, in place since 2013, is a safeguard against abuse of visa-free travel. Visa. It allows the EU to temporarily suspend visa exemptions under certain circumstances.
Abuse of visa freedom can be a cause of irregular migration. This is the case, for example, when third-country travelers overstay their visas. In recent years, the EU has also seen a rise in unjustified asylum applications from people who arrived in the Schengen Area without a visa. Asylum applications can also increase when people use countries close to the EU, whose visa policies are incompatible with its own, as a means of irregular travel to the EU.