Regulation 2018/1806 - Regulation 2018/1806 listing the third countries whose nationals must be in possession of visas when crossing the external borders and those whose nationals are exempt from that requirement (codification) - Main contents

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 303/39

Council Regulation (EC) No 539/2001 (2) has been substantially amended several times (3). In the interests of clarity and rationality, that Regulation should be codified.

This Regulation provides for full harmonisation as regards the third countries whose nationals are subject to a requirement to be in possession of a visa for the crossing of Member States' external borders (also referred to herein as ‘the visa requirement’) and those whose nationals are exempt from that requirement.

The determination of the third countries whose nationals are subject to, or exempt from, the visa requirement should be made on the basis of a considered, case-by-case assessment of a variety of criteria. That assessment should be made periodically and could lead to legislative proposals to amend Annex I to this Regulation, which lists the third countries whose nationals are required to be in possession of a visa when crossing the external borders of the Member States, and Annex II to this Regulation, which lists the third countries whose nationals are exempt from the requirement to be in possession of a visa when crossing the external borders of the Member States for stays of no more than 90 days in any 180-day period, notwithstanding the possibility of having country-specific amendments to those Annexes in particular circumstances, for instance as a result of a visa liberalisation process or as the ultimate consequence of a temporary suspension of the exemption from the visa requirement (also referred to herein as ‘the visa exemption’).

The composition of the lists of third countries in Annexes I and II should be, and should remain, consistent with the criteria set out in this Regulation. References to third countries in respect of which the situation has changed as regards those criteria should be transferred from one Annex to the other.

Developments in international law entailing changes in the status or designation of certain States or entities should be reflected in Annexes I and II.

As the Agreement on the European Economic Area (4) exempts nationals of Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway from the visa requirement, those countries should not be included in the list in Annex II.

Since the Agreement between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the Swiss Confederation, of the other part, on the free movement of persons (5) provides for free movement without visas for nationals of Switzerland and of the Member States, Switzerland should not be included in the list in Annex II.

As regards recognised refugees and stateless persons, without prejudice to obligations under international agreements signed by the Member States and in particular the European Agreement on the Abolition of Visas for Refugees of the Council of Europe, signed at Strasbourg on 20 April 1959, the decision as to the visa requirement or exemption should be based on the third country in which those persons reside and which issued their travel documents. However,...