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
Date: 2001-03-15
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: EU visa policy, Schengen Agreement, external border of the EU, foreign national, third country

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(Acts whose publication is obligatory)

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

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

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

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

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (2),

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

Under Article 62, point (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
is
required to determine the list of those third countries
whose nationals must be in possession of visas when
crossing the external borders and those whose nationals
are exempt from that requirement. 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.

it

integrating it

This Regulation follows on from the Schengen acquis in
accordance with the Protocol
into the
framework of the European Union, hereinafter referred
to as the ‘Schengen Protocol’. It does not affect Member
States' obligations deriving from the acquis as defined in
Annex A to Decision 1999/435/EC of 20 May 1999
concerning the definition of the Schengen acquis for the
purpose of determining, in conformity with the relevant
provisions of
the Treaty establishing the European
Community and the Treaty on European Union, the
legal basis for each of the provisions or decisions which
constitute the acquis (3).

(4)

(5)

falls within the area referred to in Article 1, point B, of
Decision 1999/437/EC of 17 May 1999 on certain
arrangements for
the Agreement
the application of
concluded by the Council of the European Union and
the Republic of Iceland and the Kingdom of Norway
concerning the association of those two States with the
implementation, application and development of
the
Schengen acquis (4).

Pursuant to Article 1 of the Protocol on the position of
the United Kingdom and Ireland annexed to the Treaty
on European Union and to the Treaty establishing the
European Community, Ireland and the United Kingdom
are not participating in the adoption of this Regulation.
Consequently and without prejudice to Article 4 of the
aforementioned Protocol, the provisions of this Regula-
tion apply neither to Ireland nor to the United Kingdom.

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 inter alia
to illegal immigration, public policy and security, and to
the European Union's external relations with third coun-
tries, consideration also being given to the implications
of regional coherence and reciprocity. Provision should
be made for a Community mechanism enabling this
principle of reciprocity to be implemented if one of the
third countries included in Annex II to this Regulation
decides to make the nationals of one or more Member
States subject to the visa obligation.

(3)

This Regulation constitutes the further development of
those provisions in respect of which closer cooperation
has been authorised under the Schengen Protocol and

(1) OJ C 177 E, 27.6.2000, p. 66.
(2) Opinion of 5 July 2000 (not yet published in the Official Journal).
(3) OJ L 176, 10.7.1999, p. 1.

(6)

As the Agreement on the European Economic Area
exempts nationals of Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway
from the visa requirement,
these countries are not
included in the list in Annex II hereto.

(4) OJ L 176, 10.7.1999, p. 31.

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(7)

and which issued their

As regards stateless persons and recognised refugees,
without prejudice to obligations under
international
agreements signed by the Member States and in partic-
ular the European Agreement on the Abolition of Visas
for Refugees, 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 these persons
reside
travel documents.
However, given the differences in the national legislation
applicable to stateless persons and to recognised refu-
gees, Member States may decide whether these catego-
ries of persons shall be subject to the visa requirement,
where the third country in which these persons reside
and which issued their travel documents is a third
from the visa
country whose nationals are exempt
requirement.

(8)

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.

(9) 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 Regulation. For the
same reasons, that information should also be published
in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

(10)

The conditions governing entry into the territory of the
Member States or the issue of visas do not affect the
rules currently governing recognition of the validity of
travel documents.

(11)

(12)

In accordance with the principle of proportionality
stated in 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 from that require-
ment, is both a necessary and an appropriate means of
ensuring that the common visa rules operate efficiently.

for

full harmonisation as
This Regulation provides
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. However, the application
for
the exemption from the visa requirement
of
nationals of certain third countries, which are listed in
Annex II, will come into force only later. To that end,
the Council will take a decision for each of those coun-
tries on the basis of reports drawn up by the Commis-
sion,

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. Without prejudice to Article 8(2), nationals of third coun-
tries on the list in Annex II shall be exempt from the require-
ment set out in paragraph 1, for stays of no more than three
months in all.

3.
Nationals of new third countries formerly part of coun-
tries on the lists in Annexes I and II shall be subject respec-
tively 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.

4.
The establishment by a third country on the list in Annex
II of the visa requirement for nationals of a Member State shall
give rise to the application of the following provisions, without
prejudice to the provisions of any agreement which the
Community may have concluded with that
third country
granting exemption from the visa requirement:

(a) the Member State may notify the Commission and the
Council in writing of the fact that the third country has
established the visa requirement;

(b) in the case of such notification, Member States' obligation
to subject the nationals of the third country concerned to
the visa requirement shall be established provisionally 30
days after notification unless the Council, acting by quali-
fied majority beforehand, decides otherwise;

(c) provisional introduction of the visa requirement shall be
published by the Council in the Official Journal of the Euro-
pean Communities before it takes effect;

(d) the Commission shall examine any request made by the
Council or by a Member State that it submit a proposal to
the Council amending the Annexes to this Regulation to
include the third country concerned in Annex I and remove
it from Annex II;

(e) if, prior to the adoption by the Council of such an amend-
ment to the Annexes to this Regulation, the third country
repeals its decision to establish the visa requirement, the
Member State concerned shall
immediately notify the
Commission and the Council

in writing accordingly;

(f) such notification shall be published by the Council in the
Official Journal of the European Communities. The provisional
introduction of the visa requirement for nationals of the
third country concerned shall be repealed 7 days after the
date of publication.

Article 2

For the purposes of this Regulation, ‘visa’ shall mean an author-
isation issued by a Member State or a decision taken by such
State which is required with a view to:

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

— entry for transit through the territory of that Member State
or several Member States, except for transit at an airport.

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 3

Article 7

Without prejudice to obligations under the European Agree-
ment on the Abolition of Visas for Refugees, signed at Stras-
bourg on 20 April 1959, recognised refugees and stateless
persons:

— shall be subject to the visa requirement if the third country
where they reside and which issued their travel document is
one of the third countries listed in Annex I;

— may be exempted from the visa requirement if the third
country where they reside and which issued their travel
document is one of the third countries listed in Annex II.

Article 4

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, official-duty passports and

other official passports;

(b) civilian air and sea crew;

Council Regulation (EC) No 574/1999 (1)

1.
replaced by this Regulation.

shall be

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’;

(c) the flight crew and attendants on emergency or rescue
flights and other helpers in the event of disaster or acci-
dent;

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;

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

5. part III of Annex 1 to the CCI and part III of Annex 5 of the

(e) the holders of laissez-passer issued by some intergovern-

mental

international organisations to their officials.

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

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.

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 communi-
cated within five working days.

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

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.

Article 8

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth
1.
day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the
European Communities.

2.
However, for nationals of the country in Annex II marked
with an asterisk, the date of entry into force of Article 1(2)
shall be decided on subsequently by the Council, acting in
accordance with Article 67(3) of the Treaty, on the basis of the
report referred to in the following subparagraph.

request

into on illegal

the Commission shall

To this end,
the country
concerned to indicate which undertakings it is prepared to
enter
residence,
including the repatriation of persons from that country who
are illegally resident, and report thereon to the Council. The
Commission shall submit to the Council a first report, accom-
panied by any useful recommendations, no later than 30 June
2001.

immigration and illegal

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

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Pending adoption by the Council of the act embodying the abovementioned decision, the requirement laid
down in Article 1(1) shall be applicable to nationals of that country. Articles 2 to 6 of this Regulation shall
apply in full.

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

Done at Brussels, 15 March 2001.

For the Council

The President

M-I. KLINGVALL

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ANNEX I

Common 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

Côte d'Ivoire

Cuba

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Djĳbouti

Dominica

Dominican Republic

Egypt

Equatorial Guinea

Eritrea

Ethiopia

Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia-Montenegro)

Fiji

Former Yugoslav 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

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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

São Tomé and Príncipe

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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ANNEX II

Common list referred to in Article 1(2)

1. STATES

Andorra

Argentina

Australia

Bolivia

Brazil

Brunei

Bulgaria

Canada

Chile

Costa Rica

Croatia

Cyprus

Czech Republic

Ecuador

Estonia

Guatemala

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

2. SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGIONS OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA

Hong Kong SAR (1)

Macao SAR (2)

(1) The visa requirement exemption applies only to holders
Special Administrative Region’

‘Hong Kong

of
a
passport.

(2) The visa requirement exemption applies only to holders
of a ‘Região Administrativa Especial de Macau’ passport.

(*) See Article 8(2).