Council Regulation (EC) No 574/1999 of 12 March 1999 determining the third countries whose nationals must be in possession of visas when crossing the external borders of the Member States
Date: 1999-03-12
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: EU visa policy, admission of aliens, approximation of laws, external border of the EU, foreign national, third country

L 72/2

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

18. 3. 1999

I

(Acts whose publication is obligatory)

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 574/1999

of 12 March 1999

determining the third countries whose nationals must be in possession of visas
when crossing the external borders of the Member States

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

matter that should be determined within the appro-
priate framework;

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 100c thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parlia-
ment (2),

(5) Whereas

this Regulation should not prevent a
Member State from deciding under what conditions
nationals of third countries lawfully resident within
its territory may re-enter it after having left the terri-
tory of the Member States of the Union during the
period of validity of their permits;

(1) Whereas Article 100c of

the Treaty requires the
Council
to determine the third countries whose
nationals must be in possession of a visa when
crossing the external borders of the Member States;

(6) Whereas, in special cases justifying an exemption
where visa requirements would in principle exist,
Member States may exempt certain categories of
person in keeping with international law or custom;

(2) Whereas the drawing up of the common list annexed
to this Regulation represents an important step
towards the harmonisation of visa policy; whereas the
second subparagraph of Article 7a of the Treaty stip-
ulates in particular that the internal market shall
comprise an area without internal frontiers in which
the free movement of, inter alia, persons is ensured
in accordance with the Treaty; whereas other aspects
of the harmonisation of visa policy, including the
conditions for the issue of visas, are matters to be
determined within the appropriate framework;

(3) Whereas risks relating to security and illegal immi-
gration should be given priority consideration when
the said common list is drawn up; whereas, in addi-
tion, Member States’
relations with
third countries also play a role;

international

(4) Whereas the principle that a Member State may not
require a visa from a person wishing to cross its
external borders if that person holds a visa issued by
another Member State which meets the harmonised
conditions governing the issue of visas and is valid
throughout the Community or if that person holds
an appropriate permit issued by a Member State is a

(1) OJ C 11, 15. 1. 1994, p. 15.
(2) OJ C 128, 9. 5. 1994, p. 350. Opinion of the European Parlia-
ment of 10 February 1999 (not yet published in the Official
Journal).

(7) Whereas, since national

recognised refugees

rules differ on stateless
persons,
and persons who
produce passports or travel documents issued by a
territorial entity or authority which is not recognised
as a State by all Member States, Member States may
decide on visa requirements
that group of
persons, where that territorial entity or authority is
not on the said common list;

for

(8) Whereas it is necessary, when new entities are added
to the list, to take account of diplomatic implications
and guidelines adopted on the matter by the Euro-
pean Union; whereas, at all events, the inclusion of a
third country on the common list is entirely without
prejudice to its international status;

(9) Whereas the determination of third countries whose
nationals must be in possession of visas when
crossing the external borders of the Member States
should be achieved gradually; whereas Member States
will constantly endeavour to harmonise their visa
policies with regard to third countries not on the
common list; whereas the present provisions must
not prejudice the achievement of free movement of
persons as provided for in Article 7a of the Treaty;
whereas the Commission should draw up a progress
report on harmonisation in the first half of the year
2001;

18. 3. 1999

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 72/3

(10) Whereas, with a view to ensuring that the system is
administered openly and that the persons concerned
are informed, Member States should communicate to
the other Member States and to the Commission the
measures which they take pursuant to this Regula-
tion; whereas for the same reasons that information
must also be published in the Official Journal of the
European Communities,

Article 3

During the first half of 2001 the Commission shall draw
up a progress report on the harmonisation of Member
States’ visa policies with regard to third countries not on
the common list and, if necessary, submit to the Council
proposals for further measures required to achieve the
objective of harmonisation laid down in the Treaty.

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 4

Article 1

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

2. Nationals of countries formerly part of countries on
the common list shall be subject to the requirements of
paragraph 1 unless and until the Council decides other-
wise under the procedure laid down in the relevant provi-
sion of the Treaty.

Article 2

1. Member States shall determine the visa require-
ments for nationals of third countries not on the common
list.

2. Member States shall determine the visa require-
ments for stateless persons and recognised refugees.

3. Member States shall determine the visa require-
ments for persons who produce passports or travel docu-
ments issued by a territorial entity or authority which is
not recognised as a State by all Member States if that
territorial entity or authority is not on the common list.

4. 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 paragraphs 1, 2 and 3. Any
further measures taken pursuant to paragraph 1 shall be
similarly communicated within five working days.

1.
third
A Member State may exempt nationals of
countries subject to visa requirements under Article 1(1)
and (2)
from such requirements. This shall apply in
particular to civilian air and sea crew, flight crew and
attendants on emergency or rescue flights and other
helpers in the event of disaster or accident and holders of
diplomatic passports, official duty passports and other
official passports.

2.

Article 2(4) shall apply mutatis mutandis.

Article 5

For the purposes of this Regulation, ‘visa' shall mean an
authorisation given or a decision taken by a Member State
which is required for entry into its territory with a view to:

— an intended stay in that Member State or in several
Member States of no more than three months in all,

— transit through the territory of that Member State or
several Member States, except for transit through the
international zones of airports and transfers between
airports in a Member State.

Article 6

This Regulation shall be without prejudice to any further
harmonisation between individual Member States, going
beyond the common list, determining the third countries
whose nationals must be in possession of a visa when
crossing their external borders.

The Commission shall publish the measures commun-
icated pursuant to this paragraph and updates thereof in
the Official Journal of the European Communities for
information.

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

Article 7

L 72/4

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

18. 3. 1999

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member
States.

Done at Brussels, 12 March 1999.

For the Council

The President

O. SCHILY

18. 3. 1999

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 72/5

ANNEX

COMMON LIST REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 1

I. STATES

Afghanistan
Albania
Algeria
Angola
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Belarus
Benin
Bhutan
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Burma/Myanmar
Burundi
Cambodia
Cameroon
Cape Verde
Central African Republic
Chad
China (*)
Comoros
Congo
C(cid:147)te d’Ivoire
Cuba
Democratic Republic of
the Congo
Djibouti
Dominican Republic
Egypt
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Ethiopia
Federal Republic of Yugo-
slavia (Serbia and Monte-
negro)

Fiji
Former Yugoslav Republic
of Macedonia
Gabon
The Gambia
Georgia
Ghana
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Guyana
Haiti
India
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan
Kuwait
Laos
Lebanon
Liberia
Libya
Madagascar
Maldives
Mali
Mauritania
Mauritius
Moldavia
Mongolia
Morocco
Mozambique
Nepal
Niger
Nigeria
North Korea

Oman
Pakistan
Papua New Guinea
Peru
Philippines
Qatar
Romania
Russia
Rwanda
Sao Tom(cid:130) and Principe
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Sierra Leone
Somalia
Sri Lanka
Sudan
Suriname
Syria
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Thailand
Togo
Tunisia
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Uganda
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
Uzbekistan
Vietnam
Yemen
Zambia

II. TERRITORIAL ENTITIES AND AUTHORITIES NOT RECOGNISED AS STATES BY ALL THE

MEMBER STATES

Taiwan

(*) In respect of China, this does not include holders of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region passport. Article 2
applies: Member States may decide whether to maintain or review their visa requirements in respect of such persons.