Agreement on suspending short-stay visa-free travel to respond to security concerns and rights violations

A reform of the mechanism to suspend short-stay visa-free travel into the EU, agreed today between Parliament and Council negotiating teams, will allow the EU to respond more flexibly when countries backslide on important principles of their visa waiver agreement, which can include security concerns and human rights violations. New grounds for suspension In future, violations of the United Nations Charter, severe breaches of international human rights or humanitarian law, and not complying with international court decisions will be valid grounds for suspending visa-freedom. This helps align the grounds for suspension with the grounds for granting the visa waiver in the first place, and can create a deterrent effect. With the new law, additional grounds for suspending the visa waiver will include hybrid threats, such as state-sponsored instrumentalisation of migrants aimed at destabilising or undermining society; and investor citizenship schemes ("golden passports"), which raise security concerns. A country’s lack of alignment with EU visa policy, potentially making it a transit country for illegal entry into the EU, will also be a valid ground for suspending visa-free regimes. Existing grounds, including a lack of cooperation on readmissions, will be maintained. No impunity for third-country government officials To deter third-country governments from violating the terms of their short-stay visa waiver agreement, the agreed law gives the EU more flexibility to target...