Proposal for a Council Regulation 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
Date: 2000-01-26
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Schengen Agreement, admission of aliens, external border of the EU, third country

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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for a Council Regulation listing the third countries whose nationals must be in
Proposal
possession of visas when crossing the external borders and those whose nationals are exempt
from that requirement

(2000/C 177 E/09)

COM(2000) 27 final (cid:151) 2000/0030(CNS)

(Submitted by the Commission on 26 January 2000)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 62(2)(b)(i) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament,

Whereas:

the

list of

(1) Under Article 62(2)(b) of the Treaty, the Council is to adopt
rules relating to visas for intended stays of no more than
three months, and in that context
required to
determine
third countries whose
those
nationals must be in possession of visas when crossing
the external borders and those whose nationals are
exempt from that requirement (1). Article 61 cites those
lists among the flanking measures which are directly
linked to the free movement of persons in an area of
freedom, security and justice.

is

it

(2) The determination of those third countries whose nationals
are subject to the visa requirement, and those exempt from
it, is governed by a considered, case-by-case assessment of a
variety of criteria relating to illegal
immigration, public
policy and security, and to the European Union’s external
relations with third countries, consideration also being
given to the implications of regional coherence and reci-
procity.

(3) The circumstances of

third-country nationals

issued by that State are such that

residing
lawfully in a Member State and holding a residence
permit
further visa
requirements are superfluous when they cross external
borders. The principle that a residence permit is equivalent
to a visa should be laid down for this category of persons,
without prejudice to other conditions for entry or to other
rules applying to travel within the Community by holders
of residence permits.

the Republic of

(1) Under Article 1 of the Agreement concluded by the Council of the
European Union,
Iceland and the Kingdom of
Norway concerning the latters’ association with the implementation,
application and development of the Schengen acquis, this proposal
will have to be considered by the Joint Committee in accordance
with Article 4 of the Agreement.

(4) As regards stateless persons, who have lost any links with
any particular State, and recognised refugees, who are
unable to avail themselves of the protection of the State
of which they have the nationality, the decision as to the
visa requirement or exemption should be based on a simple
criterion reflecting the fact
the State where these
persons
them its protection and issues
them with travel documents.

reside affords

that

(5) In specific cases where special visa rules are warranted,
Member States may exempt certain categories of persons
from the visa requirement or
impose it on them in
accordance with public international law or custom.

(6) With a view to ensuring that the system is administered
the persons concerned are informed,
openly and that
Member States should communicate to the other Member
States and to the Commission the measures which they
take pursuant to this Regulation. For the same reasons,
that information should also be published in the Official
Journal of the European Communities.

(7) In accordance with the principal of proportionality stated
by Article 5 of the Treaty, enacting a Regulation listing the
third countries whose nationals must be in possession of
visas when crossing the external borders, and those whose
nationals are exempt
is both a
necessary and an appropriate means of ensuring that the
common visa rules operate efficiently.

from that requirement

(8) This Regulation provides for full harmonisation as regards
the third countries whose nationals are subject to the visa
requirement for the crossing of Member States’ external
borders, and those whose nationals are exempt from that
requirement. Accordingly,
is appropriate to replace
it
existing Community law on the subject,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

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.

2.
Nationals of third countries on the common list in Annex
II shall be exempt from the requirement set out in paragraph 1.

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

Article 2

For the purposes of this Regulation, (cid:145)visa(cid:146) shall mean an auth-
orisation issued or a decision taken by a Member State which is
required for entry into its territory with a view to:

(cid:151) an intended stay in that Member State or in several Member

States of no more than three months in all,

(cid:151) 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 3

For nationals of
third countries listed in Annex I, a valid
residence permit issued by one of the Member States shall be
equivalent
to a visa for the purposes of crossing external
borders.

(d) the crew of ships navigating in international waters;

(e) the holders of official documents issued by international

organisations.

2.
A Member State may exempt from the visa requirement a
school pupil having the nationality of a third country listed in
Annex I who resides in a third country listed in Annex II 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.

Article 6

1. Within 10 working days of the entry into force of this
Regulation, Member States shall communicate to the other
residence
Member States and the Commission the list of
the purposes of Article 3 and the
permits
exception measures they have taken pursuant
to Article 5.
Any further changes to this list and to those measures shall
be similarly communicated within five working days.

relevant

for

The

Commission

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

publish

Article 4

Article 7

Stateless persons and recognised refugees shall be subject to the
visa requirement or shall be exempted from it on the same
terms as nationals of the non-member State in which they
reside and which issued their travel document.

Article 5

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

(a) holders of diplomatic passports, official-duty passports and

other official passports;

(b) civilian air and sea crew;

Regulation (EC) No 574/1999 (1) is replaced by this Regu-

1.
lation.

2.
Annex I to the Common Consular Instruction and Annex
V to the Common Manual, as laid down by the decision of the
1999
Schengen
Committee
(SCH/Com-ex(99)13) concerning the final versions of
the
Common Manual and the Common Consular Instruction, are
replaced by Annexes I and II to this Regulation.

28 April

Executive

of

Article 8

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

(c) the flight crew and attendants on emergency or rescue
in the event of disaster or

flights and other helpers
accident;

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

(1) OJ L 72, 18.3.1999, p. 2.

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ANNEX I

LIST REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 1(1)

1. STATES

Afghanistan
Albania
Algeria
Angola
Antigua and Barbuda
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Bahamas
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belarus
Belize
Benin
Bhutan
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana
Burkina Faso
Burma/Myanmar
Burundi
Cambodia
Cameroon
Cape Verde
Central African Republic
Chad
China
Colombia
Congo
C(cid:244)te d’Ivoire
Cuba
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Egypt
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Ethiopia
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia-
Montenegro)
Fiji
Former Yogoslav Republic of Macedonia
Gabon
Gambia
Georgia

Ghana
Grenada
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Guyana
Haiti
India
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Jamaica
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kiribati
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Laos
Lebanon
Lesotho
Liberia
Libya
Madagascar
Malawi
Maldives
Mali
Marshall Islands
Mauritania
Mauritius
Micronesia
Moldova
Mongolia
Morocco
Mozambique
Namibia
Nauru
Nepal
Niger
Nigeria
North Korea
Northern Marianas
Oman
Pakistan
Palau
Papua New Guinea

Peru
Philippines
Qatar
Russia
Rwanda
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Sªo TomØ and Pr(cid:237)ncipe
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Solomon Islands
Somalia
South Africa
Sri Lanka
Sudan
Surinam
Swaziland
Syria
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Thailand
The Comoros
Togo
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Tuvalu
Uganda
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
Vietnam
Western Samoa
Yemen
Zambia
Zimbabwe

2. ENTITIES AND TERRITORIAL AUTHORITIES THAT ARE NOT RECOGNISED AS STATES BY AT LEAST ONE MEMBER STATE

East Timor
Palestinian Authority
Taiwan

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1. STATES

Andorra
Argentina
Australia
Bolivia
Brazil
Brunei
Bulgaria
Canada
Chile
Costa Rica
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Ecuador
Estonia
Guatemala

ANNEX II

LIST REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 1(2)

Holy See
Honduras
Hungary
Israel
Japan
Latvia
Lithuania
Malaysia
Malta
Mexico
Monaco
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Panama
Paraguay
Poland

Romania
Salvador
San Marino
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Korea
Switzerland
United States of America
Uruguay
Venezuela

Iceland (1)
Liechtenstein (1)
Norway (1)

2. ENTITIES AND TERRITORIAL AUTHORITIES THAT ARE NOT RECOGNISED AS STATES BY AT LEAST ONE MEMBER STATE

Hong Kong SAR
Macao SAR

___________
(1) The visa exemption applicable to nationals of this country is not based on this Regulation but on the EEA Agreement.