The European Parliament on Tuesday approved reforms to make it easier for the European Union to reinstate visa requirements for non-EU citizens currently exempt from short-stay visas.
The changes expand the list of possible reasons for suspending the visa-free regime, including violations of the UN Charter, ignoring decisions of international courts, disagreement with EU visa policies or citizenship by investment schemes, sometimes called “golden passports”, which provide citizenship in exchange for money and can allow freer travel within Europe.
Visa waivers for government officials may be suspended if they are involved in human rights or other abuses.
A basic mechanism for reinstating visas already exists, historically triggered by, for example, a sharp increase in the number of asylum applications from a particular country. The new rules give the EU more flexibility in applying this “emergency brake” and could be used as leverage if countries fail to cooperate on migration or other issues.
The reforms affect 61 countries, including Israel, Georgia, Venezuela, Ukraine and Serbia, whose citizens can currently enter Europe's Schengen area without a visa for up to 90 days in any 180-day period.
The legislation still needs to be formally adopted by the EU Council and will come into force 20 days after its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
