The EU tightens visa-free travel rules and introduces new grounds for suspension
The European Union is strengthening control over visa-free entry: a country can now lose its visa-free regime even due to political risks or "golden passports". An agreement has already been reached.
Photo: pixabay.com
On June 17, the European Commission welcomed a political agreement between the European Parliament and the EU Council on the reform of the visa suspension mechanism.
This step is a response to growing threats related to uncontrolled migration, hybrid attacks, and citizenship manipulation.
The new rules will allow the EU to impose restrictions more quickly on countries whose citizens abuse visa-free travel or whose governments do not cooperate on readmission issues.
Now, grounds for the temporary suspension of visa-free travel may include not only migration surges but also political tensions, “citizenship by investment” schemes, uncoordinated visa policies, and even hybrid threats.
The threshold for triggering the mechanism has been lowered, and the procedure itself will become simpler and faster. Monitoring will also be strengthened — the European Commission is obliged to regularly report on potential risks.
The document must now go through formal approval by the European Parliament and the Council. It will come into force 20 days after publication.
It also became known that the European Union is preparing to launch an Entry/Exit System (EES), which will be gradually introduced and will collect biometric data of all non-EU citizens crossing the borders of the Schengen Area — the decision has already been approved by the European Parliament.