2001R0539 — EN — 09.06.2014 — 011.006

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Amended by:





Amended by:





Corrected by:









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COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 539/2001

of 15 March 2001

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







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Article -1

The purpose of this Regulation is to determine the third countries whose nationals are subject to, or exempt from, the visa requirement, on the basis of a case-by-case assessment of a variety of criteria relating, inter alia, to illegal immigration, public policy and security, economic benefit, in particular in terms of tourism and foreign trade, and the Union’s external relations with the relevant third countries, including, in particular, considerations of human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as the implications of regional coherence and reciprocity.

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Article 1

1. Nationals of third countries on the list in Annex I shall be required to be in possession of a visa when crossing the external borders of the Member States.

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Without prejudice to the requirements stemming from the European Agreement on the Abolition of Visas for Refugees signed at Strasbourg on 20 April 1959, recognised refugees and stateless persons shall be required to be in possession of a visa when crossing the external borders of the Member States if the third country in which they are resident and which has issued them with their travel document is a third country listed in Annex I to this Regulation.

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Nationals of third countries on the list in Annex II shall be exempt from the requirement set out in paragraph 1 for stays of no more than 90 days in any 180-day period.

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The following shall also be exempt from the visa requirement:

— the nationals of third countries listed in Annex I to this Regulation who are holders of a local border traffic card issued by the Member States pursuant to 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 ( 5 ) when these holders exercise their right within the context of the Local Border Traffic regime;

— school pupils who are nationals of a third country listed in Annex I and who reside in a Member State applying Council Decision 94/795/JHA of 30 November 1994 on a joint action adopted by the Council on the basis of Article K.3.2.b of the Treaty on European Union concerning travel facilities for school pupils from third countries resident in a Member State ( 6 ) and are travelling in the context of a school excursion as members of a group of school pupils accompanied by a teacher from the school in question;

— recognised refugees and stateless persons and other persons who do not hold the nationality of any country who reside in a Member State and are holders of a travel document issued by that Member State.

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3. Nationals of new third countries formerly part of countries on the lists in Annexes I and II shall be subject respectively to the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 unless and until the Council decides otherwise under the procedure laid down in the relevant provision of the Treaty.

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4. Where a third country listed in Annex II applies a visa requirement for nationals of at least one Member State, the following provisions shall apply:

(a) within 30 days of the implementation by the third country of the visa requirement or, in cases where the visa requirement existing on 9 January 2014 is maintained, within 30 days of that date, the Member State concerned shall notify the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission thereof in writing. That notification: (i) shall specify the date of implementation of the visa requirement and the types of travel documents and visas concerned; (ii) shall include a detailed explanation of the preliminary measures that the Member State concerned has taken with a view to ensuring visa-free travel with the third country in question and all relevant information. Information about that notification shall be published without delay by the Commission in the Official Journal of the European Union, including information on the date of implementation of the visa requirement and the types of travel documents and visas concerned. If the third country decides to lift the visa requirement before the expiry of the deadline referred to in the first subparagraph of this point, the notification shall not be made or shall be withdrawn and the information shall not be published;

(b) the Commission shall, immediately following the date of the publication referred to in the third subparagraph of point (a) and in consultation with the Member State concerned, take steps with the authorities of the third country in question, in particular in the political, economic and commercial fields, in order to restore or introduce visa-free travel and shall inform the European Parliament and the Council of those steps without delay;

(c) if within 90 days of the date of the publication referred to in the third subparagraph of point (a) and despite all the steps taken in accordance with point (b), the third country has not lifted the visa requirement, the Member State concerned may request the Commission to suspend the exemption from the visa requirement for certain categories of nationals of that third country. Where a Member State makes such a request, it shall inform the European Parliament and the Council thereof;

(d) the Commission shall, when considering further steps in accordance with point (e), (f) or (h), take into account the outcome of the measures taken by the Member State concerned with a view to ensuring visa-free travel with the third country in question, the steps taken in accordance with point (b), and the consequences of the suspension of the exemption from the visa requirement for the external relations of the Union and its Member States with the third country in question;

(e) if the third country concerned has not lifted the visa requirement, the Commission shall, at the latest six months of the date of the publication referred to in the third subparagraph of point (a) and subsequently at intervals not exceeding six months within a total period which may not extend beyond the date on which the delegated act referred to in point (f) takes effect or is objected to: (i) adopt, at the request of the Member State concerned or on its own initiative, an implementing act temporarily suspending the exemption from the visa requirement for certain categories of nationals of the third country concerned for a period of up to six months. That implementing act shall determine a date, within 90 days of its entry into force, on which the suspension of the exemption from the visa requirement is to take effect, taking into account the available resources in the consulates of the Member States. When adopting subsequent implementing acts, the Commission may extend the period of that suspension by further periods of up to six months and may modify the categories of nationals of the third country in question for which the exemption from the visa requirement is suspended. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 4a(2). Without prejudice to the application of Article 4, during the periods of suspension all the categories of nationals of the third country referred to in the implementing act shall be required to be in possession of a visa when crossing the external borders of the Member States; or (ii) submit to the committee referred to in Article 4a(1) a report assessing the situation and stating the reasons why it decided not to suspend the exemption from the visa requirement and inform the European Parliament and the Council thereof. All relevant factors, such as those referred to in point (d), shall be taken into account in that report. The European Parliament and the Council may have a political discussion on the basis of that report;

(f) if within 24 months of the date of the publication referred to in the third subparagraph of point (a), the third country concerned has not lifted the visa requirement, the Commission shall adopt a delegated act in accordance with Article 4b temporarily suspending the application of Annex II for a period of 12 months for the nationals of that third country. The delegated act shall determine a date, within 90 days of its entry into force, on which the suspension of the application of Annex II is to take effect, taking into account the available resources in the consulates of the Member States and shall amend Annex II accordingly. That amendment shall be made through inserting next to the name of the third country in question a footnote indicating that the exemption from the visa requirement is suspended with regard to that third country and specifying the period of that suspension. As of the date when the suspension of the application of Annex II for the nationals of the third country concerned takes effect or when an objection to the delegated act is expressed pursuant to Article 4b(5), any implementing act adopted pursuant to point (e) concerning that third country shall expire. Where the Commission submits a legislative proposal as referred to in point (h), the period of suspension referred to in the first subparagraph of this point shall be extended by six months. The footnote referred to in that subparagraph shall be amended accordingly. Without prejudice to the application of Article 4, during the periods of that suspension the nationals of the third country concerned by the delegated act shall be required to be in possession of a visa when crossing the external borders of the Member States;

(g) any subsequent notification made by another Member State pursuant to point (a) concerning the same third country during the period of application of measures adopted pursuant to point (e) or (f) with regard to that third country shall be merged into the ongoing procedures without the deadlines or periods set out in those points being extended;

(h) if within six months of the entry into force of the delegated act referred to in point (f) the third country in question has not lifted the visa requirement, the Commission may submit a legislative proposal for amending this Regulation in order to transfer the reference to the third country from Annex II to Annex I;

(i) the procedures referred to in points (e), (f) and (h) shall not affect the right of the Commission to submit at any time a legislative proposal for amending this Regulation in order to transfer the reference to the third country concerned from Annex II to Annex I;

(j) where the third country in question lifts the visa requirement, the Member State concerned shall immediately notify the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission thereof. The notification shall be published without delay by the Commission in the Official Journal of the European Union. Any implementing or delegated act adopted pursuant to point (e) or (f) concerning the third country in question shall expire seven days after the publication referred to in the first subparagraph of this point. Where the third country in question has introduced a visa requirement for nationals of two or more Member States, the implementing or delegated act concerning that third country shall expire seven days after the publication of the notification concerning the last Member State whose nationals were subject to visa requirement by that third country. The footnote referred to in the first subparagraph of point (f) shall be deleted upon expiry of the delegated act concerned. The information on that expiry shall be published without delay by the Commission in the Official Journal of the European Union. Where the third country in question lifts the visa requirement without the Member State concerned notifying it in accordance with the first subparagraph of this point, the Commission shall on its own initiative proceed without delay with the publication referred to in that subparagraph, and the second subparagraph of this point shall apply.

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Article 1a

1. By way of derogation from Article 1(2), the exemption from the visa requirement for nationals of a third country listed in Annex II shall be temporarily suspended in emergency situations, as a last resort, in accordance with this Article.

2. A Member State may notify the Commission if it is confronted, over a six-month period, in comparison with the same period in the previous year or with the last six months prior to the implementation of the exemption from the visa requirement for nationals of a third country listed in Annex II, with one or more of the following circumstances leading to an emergency situation which it is unable to remedy on its own, namely a substantial and sudden increase in the number of:

(a) nationals of that third country found to be staying in the Member State's territory without a right thereto;

(b) asylum applications from the nationals of that third country for which the recognition rate is low, where such an increase is leading to specific pressures on the Member State's asylum system;

(c) rejected readmission applications submitted by the Member State to that third country for its own nationals.

The comparison with the six-month period prior to the implementation of the exemption from the visa requirement as referred to in the first subparagraph shall only be applicable during a period of seven years from the date of implementation of the exemption from the visa requirement for nationals of that third country.

The notification referred to in the first subparagraph shall state the reasons on which it is based and shall include relevant data and statistics as well as a detailed explanation of the preliminary measures that the Member State concerned has taken with a view to remedying the situation. The Commission shall inform the European Parliament and the Council immediately of such notification.

3. The Commission shall examine any notification made pursuant to paragraph 2, taking into account:

(a) whether any of the situations described in paragraph 2 are present;

(b) the number of Member States affected by any of the situations described in paragraph 2;

(c) the overall impact of the increases referred to in paragraph 2 on the migratory situation in the Union as it appears from the data provided by the Member States;

(d) the reports prepared by the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union, the European Asylum Support Office or the European Police Office (Europol) if circumstances so require in the specific case notified;

(e) the overall question of public policy and internal security, in consultations with the Member State concerned.

The Commission shall inform the European Parliament and the Council of the results of its examination.

4. Where the Commission, on the basis of the examination referred to in paragraph 3, and taking into account the consequences of a suspension of the exemption from the visa requirement for the external relations of the Union and its Member States with the third country concerned, while working in close cooperation with that third country to find alternative long-term solutions, decides that action is needed, it shall, within three months of receipt of the notification referred to in paragraph 2, adopt an implementing act temporarily suspending the exemption from the visa requirement for the nationals of the third country concerned for a period of six months. That implementing act shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 4a(2). The implementing act shall determine the date on which the suspension of the exemption from the visa requirement is to take effect.

Without prejudice to the application of Article 4, during the periods of that suspension the nationals of the third country concerned by the implementing act shall be required to be in possession of a visa when crossing the external borders of the Member States.

5. Before the end of the period of validity of the implementing act adopted pursuant to paragraph 4, the Commission, in cooperation with the Member State concerned, shall submit a report to the European Parliament and to the Council. The report may be accompanied by a legislative proposal for amending this Regulation in order to transfer the reference to the third country concerned from Annex II to Annex I.

6. Where the Commission has submitted a legislative proposal pursuant to paragraph 5, it may extend the validity of the implementing act adopted pursuant to paragraph 4 by a period not exceeding 12 months. The decision to extend the validity of the implementing act shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 4a(2).

Article 1b

By 10 January 2018, the Commission shall submit a report to the European Parliament and to the Council assessing the effectiveness of the reciprocity mechanism provided for in Article 1(4) and the suspension mechanism provided for in Article 1a and shall, if necessary, submit a legislative proposal for amending this Regulation. The European Parliament and the Council shall act on such a proposal by the ordinary legislative procedure.

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Article 2

For the purposes of this Regulation, ‘visa’ means a visa as defined in Article 2(2)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 810/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 establishing a Community Code on Visas (Visa Code) ( 7 ).

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Article 4

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1. A Member State may provide for exceptions from the visa requirement provided for by Article 1(1) or from the exemption from the visa requirement provided for by Article 1(2) as regards:

(a) holders of diplomatic passports, service/official passports or special passports;

(b) civilian air and sea crew members in the performance of their duties;

(c) civilian sea crew members, when they go ashore, who hold a seafarer's identity document issued in accordance with the International Labour Organisation Conventions No 108 of 13 May 1958 or No 185 of 16 June 2003 or the International Maritime Organisation Convention on Facilitation of International Maritime Traffic of 9 April 1965;

(d) crew and members of emergency or rescue missions in the event of disaster or accident;

(e) civilian crew of ships navigating in international inland waters;

(f) holders of travel documents issued by intergovernmental international organisations of which at least one Member State is member, or by other entities recognised by the Member State concerned as subjects of international law, to officials of those organisations or entities.

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2. A Member State may exempt from the visa requirement:

(a) a school pupil having the nationality of a third country listed in Annex I who resides in a third country listed in Annex II or in Switzerland and Liechtenstein and is travelling in the context of a school excursion as a member of a group of school pupils accompanied by a teacher from the school in question;

(b) recognised refugees and stateless persons if the third country where they reside and which issued their travel document is one of the third countries listed in Annex II;

(c) members of the armed forces travelling on NATO or Partnership for Peace business and holders of identification and movement orders provided for by the Agreement of 19 June 1951 between the Parties to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation regarding the status of their forces;

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(d) without prejudice to the requirements stemming from the European Agreement on the Abolition of Visas for Refugees signed at Strasbourg on 20 April 1959, recognised refugees and stateless persons and other persons who do not hold the nationality of any country who reside in the United Kingdom or in Ireland and are holders of a travel document issued by the United Kingdom or Ireland, which is recognised by the Member State concerned.

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3. A Member State may provide for exceptions from the exemption from the visa requirement provided for in Article 1(2) as regards persons carrying out a paid activity during their stay.

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Article 4a

1. The Commission shall be assisted by a committee. That committee shall be a committee within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 8 ).

2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 shall apply.

3. Where the committee delivers no opinion, the Commission shall not adopt the draft implementing act and the third subparagraph of Article 5(4) of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 shall apply.

Article 4b

1. The power to adopt delegated acts is conferred on the Commission subject to the conditions laid down in this Article.

2. The power to adopt delegated acts referred to in point (f) of Article 1(4) shall be conferred on the Commission for a period of five years from 9 January 2014. The Commission shall draw up a report in respect of the delegation of power not later than nine months before the end of the five-year period. The delegation of power shall be tacitly extended for periods of an identical duration, unless the European Parliament or the Council opposes such extension not later than three months before the end of each period.

3. The delegation of power referred to in point (f) of Article 1(4) may be revoked at any time by the European Parliament or by the Council. A decision to revoke shall put an end to the delegation of the power specified in that decision. It shall take effect the day following the publication of the decision in the Official Journal of the European Union or at a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of any delegated acts already in force.

4. As soon as it adopts a delegated act, the Commission shall notify it simultaneously to the European Parliament and to the Council.

5. A delegated act adopted pursuant to point (f) of Article 1(4) shall enter into force only if no objection has been expressed either by the European Parliament or the Council within a period of four months of notification of that act to the European Parliament and the Council or if, before the expiry of that period, the European Parliament and the Council have both informed the Commission that they will not object. That period shall be extended by two months at the initiative of the European Parliament or of the Council.

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Article 5

1. Within 10 working days of the entry into force of this Regulation, Member States shall communicate to the other Member States and the Commission the measures they have taken pursuant to Article 3, second indent and Article 4. Any further changes to those measures shall be similarly communicated within five working days.

2. The Commission shall publish the measures communicated pursuant to paragraph 1 in the Official Journal of the European Communities for information.

Article 6

This Regulation shall not affect the competence of Member States with regard to the recognition of States and territorial units and passports, travel and identity documents issued by their authorities.

Article 7

1. Council Regulation (EC) No 574/1999 ( 9 ) shall be replaced by this Regulation.

2. The final versions of the Common Consular Instruction (CCI) and of the Common Manual (CM), as they result from the Decision of the Schengen Executive Committee of 28 April 1999 (SCH/Com-ex(99) 13) shall be amended as follows:

1. the heading of Annex 1, part I of the CCI and of Annex 5, part I of the CM, shall be replaced by the following: ‘Common list of third countries the nationals of which are subject to the visa requirement imposed by Regulation (EC) No 539/2001’ ;

2. the list in Annex 1, part I of the CCI and in Annex 5, part I of the CM shall be replaced by the list in Annex I to this Regulation;

3. the heading of Annex 1, part II of the CCI and of Annex 5, part II of the CM shall be replaced by the following: ‘Common list of third countries the nationals of which are exempted from the visa requirement by Regulation (EC) No 539/2001’;

4. the list in Annex 1, part II of the CCI and in Annex 5, part II of the CM shall be replaced by the list in Annex II to this Regulation;

5. part III of Annex 1 to the CCI and part III of Annex 5 of the CM shall be deleted.

3. The decisions of the Schengen Executive Committee of 15 December 1997 (SCH/Com-ex(97)32) and of 16 December 1998 (SCH/Com-ex(98)53, rev.2) shall be repealed.

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Article 8

This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

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This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in the Member States in accordance with the Treaty establishing the European Community.









ANNEX I

Common list referred to in Article 1(1)

1. STATES Afghanistan ▼M7 ————— ▼B Algeria Angola ▼M5 ————— ▼B Armenia Azerbaijan ▼M5 ————— ▼B Bahrain Bangladesh ▼M5 ————— ▼B Belarus Belize Benin Bhutan ▼M5 Bolivia ▼M7 ————— ▼B Botswana Burkina Faso Burma/Myanmar Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad China ▼M13 ————— ▼B Congo Côte d'Ivoire Cuba Democratic Republic of the Congo Djijbouti ▼M13 ————— ▼B Dominican Republic ▼M5 ————— ▼M2 Ecuador ▼B Egypt Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Ethiopia ▼M5 ————— ▼B Fiji ▼M6 ————— ▼B Gabon Gambia Georgia Ghana ▼M13 ————— ▼B Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti India Indonesia Iran Iraq Jamaica Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya ▼M13 ————— ▼B Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Madagascar Malawi Maldives Mali ▼M13 ————— ▼B Mauritania ▼M5 ————— ▼M13 ————— ▼M12 ————— ▼B Mongolia ▼M6 ————— ▼B Morocco Mozambique Namibia ▼M13 ————— ▼B Nepal Niger Nigeria North Korea ▼M8 ————— ▼B Oman Pakistan ▼M13 ————— ▼B Papua New Guinea ▼M13 ————— ▼B Philippines Qatar Russia Rwanda ▼M5 ————— ▼M13 ————— ▼B São Tomé and Príncipe Saudi Arabia Senegal ▼M6 ————— ▼M5 ————— ▼B Sierra Leone ▼M13 ————— ▼B Somalia South Africa ▼M13 South Sudan ▼B Sri Lanka Sudan Surinam Swaziland Syria Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand The Comoros ▼M13 ————— ▼B Togo ▼M13 ————— ▼B Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan ▼M13 ————— ▼B Uganda Ukraine ▼M13 ————— ▼B Uzbekistan ▼M13 ————— ▼B Vietnam ▼M5 ————— ▼B Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe

2. ENTITIES AND TERRITORIAL AUTHORITIES THAT ARE NOT RECOGNISED AS STATES BY AT LEAST ONE MEMBER STATE ▼M2 ————— ▼M6 Kosovo as defined by the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 of 10 June 1999 ▼B Palestinian Authority ▼M8 —————

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ANNEX II

Common list referred to in Article 1(2)

1. STATES ▼M7 Albania ( 10 ) ▼B Andorra ▼M5 Antigua and Barbuda ( 11 ) ▼B Argentina Australia ▼M5 Bahamas (11) Barbados (11) ▼M5 ————— ▼M7 Bosnia and Herzegovina (10) ▼B Brazil ▼M5 Brunei Darussalam ▼M4 ————— ▼B Canada Chile ▼M13 Colombia ( 12 ) ▼B Costa Rica ▼M9 ————— ▼A1 ▼M13 Dominica (12) ▼M2 ————— ▼A1 ▼M6 former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia ( 13 ) ▼M13 Grenada (12) ▼B Guatemala Holy See Honduras ▼A1 ▼B Israel Japan ▼M13 Kiribati (12) ▼A1 ▼B Malaysia ▼A1 ▼M13 Marshall Islands (12) ▼M5 Mauritius (11) ▼B Mexico ▼M13 Micronesia (12) ▼M12 Moldova, Republic of ( 14 ) ▼B Monaco ▼M6 Montenegro (13) ▼M13 Nauru (12) ▼B New Zealand Nicaragua ▼M13 Palau (12) ▼B Panama Paraguay ▼M13 Peru (12) ▼A1 ▼M4 ————— ▼M5 Saint Kitts and Nevis (11) ▼M13 Saint Lucia (12) Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (12) ▼B Salvador ▼M13 Samoa (12) ▼B San Marino ▼M6 Serbia (excluding holders of Serbian passports issued by the Serbian Coordination Directorate (in Serbian: Koordinaciona uprava)) (13) ▼M5 Seychelles (11) ▼B Singapore ▼A1 ▼M13 Solomon Islands (12) ▼B South Korea ▼M2 ————— ▼M13 Timor-Leste (12) Tonga (12) Trinidad and Tobago (12) Tuvalu (12) the United Arab Emirates (12) ▼B United States of America Uruguay ▼M13 Vanuatu (12) ▼B Venezuela

2. SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGIONS OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA Hong Kong SAR ( 15 ) Macao SAR ( 16 )

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3. BRITISH CITIZENS WHO ARE NOT NATIONALS OF THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND FOR THE PURPOSES OF UNION LAW: British nationals (Overseas) British overseas territories citizens (BOTC) British overseas citizens (BOC) British protected persons (BPP) British subjects (BS)

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4. ENTITIES AND TERRITORIAL AUTHORITIES THAT ARE NOT RECOGNISED AS STATES BY AT LEAST ONE MEMBER STATE: Taiwan ( 17 )