The European Commission has proposed measures to reform the EU common visa policy to address evolving concerns, including security and migration.
The commission intends that new reforms to the EU common visa policy will make it easier for legitimate applicants to obtain visas to visit Europe while also increasing security and mitigating irregular migration.
In proposing the reforms, the commission emphasised that a strong visa process is needed to maintain trade and business links, and also to reinforce Europe’s tourism and travel industry, which represents around 10% of the bloc’s total GDP. By reforming the visa process, the EU hopes to give both sectors a significant boost.
How will the visa process change?
Among the proposed changes to the visa application process are a commitment to reduce decision-making time for applications from 15 days to ten, and to allow travellers to submit electronic applications up to six months in advance of their planned trip.
To facilitate more short-term tourism, member states will be allowed to issue single-entry visas directly at external land and sea borders under seasonal schemes. For repeat trips, travellers with positive visa histories will be eligible for multiple-entry visas with longer validity.
The proposal also suggests an increase in the cost of a visa, which will support the provision of funding to reinforce security, including by updating IT equipment and software, and also to ensure stronger security screenings.
What has the EU said?
The European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, Dimitris Avramopoulos, emphasised that the new proposals were only a first step towards reforming the EU’s common visa policy, and that further overhauls will follow later this year.
He said: “Every year, millions of travellers visit the EU and boost our travel and tourism industry. With the reforms we propose today, it will become easier and faster for legitimate travellers to obtain a visa while security standards will be enhanced to better detect and stop those who are not. The new rules will also make sure our common visa policy can help improve our cooperation with non-EU countries when it comes to the return of irregular migrants.”
