Considerations on COM(2006)84 - Amendment of Regulation (EC) No 539/2001 listing the third countries whose nationals must be in possession of visas when crossing the external borders of Member States and those whose nationals are exempt from that requirement

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dossier COM(2006)84 - Amendment of Regulation (EC) No 539/2001 listing the third countries whose nationals must be in possession of visas when ...
document COM(2006)84 EN
date December 21, 2006
 
(1) The composition of the lists of third countries in Annexes I and II to Regulation (EC)

No 539/2001 of 15 March 20011 should be, and should remain, consistent with the criteria laid down in recital (5) thereto. Some third countries should be transferred from one Annex to the other, particularly with regard to illegal immigration and public policy.

(2) Bolivia should be transferred to Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 539/2001. The date of application of the visa requirement for Bolivian nationals should be such as to allow Member States to rescind in good time the bilateral agreements with Bolivia and to take all the necessary administrative and organisational measures for introducing the visa requirement in question.

(3) Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Mauritius, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and the Seychelles should be transferred to Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 539/2001.

Exemption from the visa requirement for nationals of those countries should not come into force before a bilateral agreement on exemption from the visa requirement between the European Community and the country in question has been concluded.

OJ L 81, 21.3.2001, p. 1.

(4) The two Annexes to Regulation (EC) No 539/2001 should be exhaustive. To that end, a heading making it possible to determine the visa arrangements to be applied by the Member States to categories of persons made subject to the visa requirement by certain Member States and exempted therefrom by others should be added to each of the Annexes to Regulation (EC) No 539/2001. Various categories of 'British' persons who are not nationals of the United Kingdom within the meaning of Community law should be added to Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 539/2001 and British Nationals (Overseas) should be added to Annex II thereto.

(5) Member States may provide for exemptions from the visa requirement for holders of certain passports other than ordinary passports. The designations of these passports require clarification. Reference needs also to be made in Regulation (EC) No 539/2001 to the procedures applicable where recourse is had to such exemptions.

(6) Member States may exempt from the visa requirement recognised refugees, all stateless persons, both those under the Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons of 28 September 1954 and those outside of the scope of that Convention, and school pupils travelling on school excursions where the persons of these categories reside in a

third country listed in Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 539/2001.

A full exemption from the visa requirement exists already for these three categories of persons residing within the Schengen area when they enter or re-enter that area; a general exemption should be introduced for persons of those categories residing in a Member State which has not or not yet joined the Schengen area, as far as their entry or re-entry into the territory of any other Member State bound by the Schengen acquis is concerned.

(7) Regulation (EC) No 1931/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 December 2006 laying down rules on local border traffic at the external land borders of the Member States and amending the provisions of the Schengen Convention 1 makes it necessary to provide for a new exemption from the visa requirement for holders of a local border traffic card.

(8) The arrangements governing exemptions from the visa requirement should fully reflect actual practices. Certain Member States grant exemption from the visa requirement for nationals of third countries listed in Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 539/2001 who are members of the armed forces travelling on NATO or Partnership for Peace business. For reasons of legal certainty, these exemptions, which are based on international obligations external to Community law, should nevertheless be referred to in that Regulation.

(9) Because of the successive amendments to Regulation (EC) No 539/2001, it is necessary to improve its structure and make it easier to read, to which end it should be recast at a later date.

See this Official Journal.

(10) As regards Iceland and Norway, this Regulation constitutes a development of the provisions of the Schengen acquis, within the meaning of the Agreement concluded by the Council of the European Union and the Republic of Iceland and the Kingdom of Norway concerning the latter's association with the implementation, application and development of the Schengen acquis1, which falls within the area referred to in Article 1(B) of Council Decision 1999/437/EC of 17 May 1999 on certain arrangements for the application of that Agreement2.

(11) The United Kingdom and Ireland are not bound by Regulation (EC) No 539/2001. They are therefore not taking part in the adoption of this Regulation and are not bound by or subject to the application thereof.

(12) As regards Switzerland, this Regulation constitutes a development of the provisions of the Schengen acquis, within the meaning of the Agreement signed by the European Union, the European Community and the Swiss Confederation on the association of the Swiss Confederation with the implementation, application and development of the Schengen acquis, which falls within the area referred to in Article 1(B) of Council

Decision 1999/437/EC, read in conjunction with Article 4(1) of Council Decision 2004/860/EC of 25 October 2004 on the signing, on behalf of the European Community, and on the provisional application of certain provisions of the Agreement between the European Union, the European Community and the Swiss Confederation, concerning the Swiss Confederation's association with the implementation, application and development of the Schengen acquis3,

OJ L 176, 10.7.1999, p. 36. OJ L 368, 15.12.2004, p. 26. OJ L 370, 17.12.2004, p. 78.