Council Regulation (EC) No 1295/2003 of 15 July 2003 relating to measures envisaged to facilitate the procedures for applying for and issuing visas for members of the Olympic family taking part in the 2004 Olympic or Paralympic Games in Athens
Date: 2003-07-15
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: Greece, Olympic games, admission of aliens, derogation from EU law, professional sport

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I

(Acts whose publication is obligatory)

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 1295/2003

of 15 July 2003

relating to measures envisaged to facilitate the procedures for applying for and issuing visas for
members of the Olympic family taking part in the 2004 Olympic or Paralympic Games in Athens

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

event has been organised by a Member State applying in
full the provisions of the Schengen acquis.

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Com-
munity, and in particular Article 62(2)(a) and (b)(ii) thereof,

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

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

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

The Olympic Charter envisages for members of
the
Olympic family a ‘right of entry’ to the country of the
city hosting the Olympic Games, on presentation of the
Olympic accreditation card and their passport or other
official travel document, without having to go through
any procedures and formalities other than those relating
to the accreditation card.

The organisations responsible select and propose the
persons who may participate in the Olympic or Paral-
in
ympic Games as members of the Olympic family,
accordance with the accreditation procedure laid down
by the Organising Committee of the Olympic Games.

The Organising Committee of the Olympic Games issues
accreditation cards to members of the Olympic family in
view of the fact that the Games may be the target of
terrorist attacks. The accreditation card is a highly secure
document, which gives access to the specific sites where
competitions are held and to other events planned
during the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

(4)

Greece is organising the 2004 Olympic and Paralympic
Games in Athens, this being the first time that such an

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

To enable Greece to organise the 2004 Olympic and
Paralympic Games and in view of the obligations arising
from the Olympic Charter, the Community should estab-
lish legislation facilitating the issue of visas to members
of the Olympic family.

There is therefore a need to provide for a temporary
derogation for the duration of the 2004 Olympic and
Paralympic Games for members of the Olympic family
who are nationals of third countries subject to the visa
requirement under 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 (3).

The scope of this derogation should be limited to the
provisions of the acquis concerning the submission of
visa applications, the issuing of visas and their format.
Equally, the methods of controlling the external borders
should be adapted within the limits necessary to take
into account changes in the visa system.

Visa applications for members of the Olympic family
taking part in the 2004 Olympic or Paralympic Games
should be submitted to the Organising Committee of the
Olympic Games via the organisations responsible, at the
same time as the application for accreditation. The
accreditation application form shall contain basic data
relating to the persons concerned, such as their full
name, sex, date and place of birth and passport number,
type and expiry date thereof. These applications shall be
forwarded to the Greek services responsible for issuing
visas.

(1) Proposal of 8 April 2003 (not yet published in the Official Journal).
(2) Opinion of 19 June 2003 (not yet published in the Official Journal).

(3) OJ L 81, 21.3.2001, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation

(EC) No 453/2003 (OJ L 69, 13.3.2003, p. 10).

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(9)

Irrespective of this Regulation, members of the Olympic
family may still submit individual applications for visas
in accordance with the relevant acquis communautaire.

(10) Where no specific provisions are laid down in this Regu-
lation, the relevant provisions of the acquis communautaire
on visas and controls at Member States' external borders
should apply. In particular, the provisions of this Regula-
tion relating to the issuing of visas are not applicable to
members of the Olympic family who are nationals of
third countries subject to a visa requirement but who
hold a residence permit or a provisional residence permit
issued by one of the Member States applying in full the
provisions of the Schengen acquis.

(11)

(12)

(13)

The derogation arrangements established by this Regula-
tion should be evaluated in the light of the experience of
putting them into practice. Provision should therefore be
made for an evaluation after the 2004 Olympic and
Paralympic Games in order to assess how well these
arrangements have worked in the perspective of the
possible organisation of the Olympic Games by other
Member States also applying in full the provisions of the
Schengen acquis.

In accordance with the principle of proportionality, it is
necessary and appropriate in order to give effect to the
main objective of facilitating the issue of visas to the
members of the Olympic family to adopt the temporary
derogation established by this Regulation from certain
Community provisions. This Regulation does not go
beyond what is necessary in order to achieve the objec-
tives pursued, in accordance with the third paragraph of
Article 5 of the Treaty.

In accordance with Articles 1 and 2 of the Protocol on
the position of Denmark annexed to the Treaty on
European Union and to the Treaty establishing the
European Community, Denmark is not taking part in
the adoption of this Regulation, and is not bound by it
or subject to its application. Given that this Regulation
builds upon the Schengen acquis under the provisions of
Title IV of Part Three of the Treaty establishing the
European Community, Denmark shall,
in accordance
with Article 5 of the said Protocol, decide within a
period of six months after the Council has adopted this
Regulation whether it will implement it in its national
law.

(14) As regards Iceland and Norway, this Regulation consti-
tutes a development of provisions of the Schengen acquis
within the meaning of the Agreement concluded on 18
May 1999 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 (1), which fall within the area referred to
in Article 1, point B of Council Decision 1999/437/EC
of 17 May 1999 on certain arrangements for the appli-
cation of that Agreement (2).

(15)

(16)

This Regulation constitutes a development of provisions
of the Schengen acquis in which the United Kingdom
does not take part, in accordance with Council Decision
2000/365/EC of 29 May 2000 concerning the request of
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland to take part in some of the provisions of the
Schengen acquis (3); the United Kingdom is therefore not
taking part in its adoption and is not bound by it or
subject to its application.

This Regulation constitutes a development of provisions
of the Schengen acquis in which Ireland does not take
part, in accordance with Council Decision 2002/192/EC
of 28 February 2002 concerning Ireland's request to take
part in some of the provisions of the Schengen acquis (4);
Ireland is therefore not taking part in its adoption and is
not bound by it or subject to its application.

(17)

This Regulation constitutes an act building on the
Schengen acquis or otherwise related to it within the
meaning of Article 3(2) of the 2003 Act of Accession,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

CHAPTER I

PURPOSE AND DEFINITIONS

Article 1

Purpose

This Regulation establishes specific provisions introducing a
temporary derogation from certain provisions of the Schengen
acquis concerning the procedures for applying for and issuing
visas as well as for the uniform format for visas for members
of the Olympic family for the duration of the 2004 Olympic
and Paralympic Games.

Apart from these specific provisions, the relevant provisions of
the Schengen acquis concerning procedures for applying for
and issuing the uniform visa shall remain in force.

(1) OJ L 176, 10.7.1999, p. 36.
(2) OJ L 176, 10.7.1999, p. 31.
(3) OJ L 131, 1.6.2000, p. 43.
(4) OJ L 64, 7.3.2002, p. 20.

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Article 2

Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

‘Responsible organisations’ relating to measures envisaged to
facilitate the procedures for applying for and issuing visas
for members of the Olympic family taking part in the 2004
Olympic or Paralympic Games means the official organisa-
tions, in terms of the Olympic Charter, which are entitled to
submit lists of members of the Olympic family to the Orga-
nising Committee of the 2004 Olympic Games with a view
to the issue of accreditation cards for the Games;

such as athletes,

‘Member of the Olympic family’ means any persons who are
members of the International Olympic Committee, the Inter-
International Federations,
national Paralympic Committee,
the National Olympic and Paralympic Committees,
the
the Olympic Games and the
Organising Committees of
national associations,
judges/referees,
coaches and other sports technicians, medical personnel
individual sportsmen/women and
attached to teams or
media-accredited journalists,
executives, donors,
sponsors or other official invitees, who agree to be guided
by the Olympic Charter, act under the control and supreme
authority of
the International Olympic Committee, are
included on the lists of the responsible organisations and
are accredited by the Organising Committee of the 2004
Olympic Games as participants in the 2004 Olympic or
Paralympic Games;

senior

‘Olympic accreditation cards’,
issued by the Organising
Committee of the 2004 Olympic Games, in accordance with
Article 16 of the Greek law 3103/2003, means one of two
secure documents, one for the Olympic Games and one for
the Paralympic Games, bearing a photograph of its holder,
establishing the identity of the member of the Olympic
family and authorising access to the facilities at which
competitions are held and to other events scheduled during
the period of the Games;

‘Duration of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games’
means the period from 13 July 2004 to 29 September 2004
for the 2004 Summer Olympic Games and the period from
18 August 2004 to 29 October 2004 for the 2004 Autumn
Paralympic Games;

‘Organising Committee of the 2004 Olympic Games’ means
the Committee set up under Article 2 of Greek Law 2598/
1998 to organise the 2004 Olympic and Paralympic Games
in Athens, which decides on accreditation of members of
the Olympic family taking part in those Games;

6.

‘Services responsible for issuing visas’ means the services
designated in Greece to examine applications and issue visas
to members of the Olympic family.

CHAPTER II

ISSUE OF VISAS

Article 3

Conditions

A visa may be issued pursuant to this Regulation only where
the person concerned:

(a) has been designated by one of the responsible organisations
and accredited by the Organising Committee of the 2004
Olympic Games as a participant in the 2004 Olympic or
Paralympic Games;

(b) holds a valid travel document authorising the crossing of
the external borders, as referred to in Article 5 of the
Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement of 14
June 1985, signed at Schengen on 19 June (hereinafter ‘the
Schengen Convention’);

(c) is not a person for whom an alert has been issued for the

purposes of refusing entry;

(d) is not considered to be a threat to public policy, national
security or the international relations of any of the Member
States.

Article 4

Filing of the application

1. Where a responsible organisation draws up a list of the
persons selected to take part in the 2004 Olympic or Paral-
it may, together with the application for an
ympic Games,
Olympic accreditation card for the persons selected,
file a
collective application for visas for those persons selected who
are required to be in possession of a visa in accordance with
Regulation (EC) No 539/2001.

2.
Collective applications for visas for the persons concerned
shall be forwarded at the same time as applications for the
issue of an Olympic accreditation card to the Organising
Committee of the 2004 Olympic Games in accordance with
the procedure established by it.

A single visa application per person shall be filed for
in the 2004 Olympic or Paralympic

3.
persons taking part
Games.

The Organising Committee of the 2004 Olympic Games
4.
shall forward to the services responsible for issuing visas collec-
tive applications for visas as quickly as possible, together with
copies of applications for the issue of an Olympic accreditation
card for the persons concerned, bearing their full name, nation-
ality, sex, date and place of birth, passport number, type and
expiry date thereof.

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Article 5

Examination of the collective application for visas and
type of the visa issued

1.
The visa shall be issued by the services responsible for the
issue of visas following an examination designed to ensure that
the conditions set out in Article 3 are met.

The visa issued shall be a uniform short-stay, multiple-
2.
entry visa authorising a stay of not more than ninety (90) days
for the duration of
the Olympics Games and Paralympic
Games.

3. Where the member of the Olympic family concerned
does not meet the conditions set out in Article 3(c) and (d), the
services responsible for issuing visas may issue a visa with
limited territorial validity in conformity with Article 5(2) of the
Schengen Convention.

Article 6

Form of the visa

The visa shall

1.
two numbers being
take the form of
entered on the Olympic accreditation card. The first number
shall be the visa number. In the case of a uniform visa, this
number shall be made up of seven (7) characters comprising
six (6) digits preceded by the letter ‘C’. In the case of a visa with
limited territorial validity, this number shall be made up of
eight (8) characters comprising six (6) digits preceded by the
letters ‘GR’. The second number shall be the number of the
passport of the person concerned.

2.
The services responsible for issuing visas shall forward
the visa numbers to the Organising Committee of the 2004
Olympic Games for the purposes of issuing accreditation cards.

Article 7

Waiver of fees

The processing of visa applications and the issue of visas shall
not give rise to any fees being charged by the services respon-
sible for issuing visas.

CHAPTER III

OTHER ASPECTS

Article 8

Cancellation of a visa

Where the list of persons put forward as participants in the
2004 Olympic or Paralympic Games is amended before the
Games begin, the responsible organisations shall without any
delay inform the Organising Committee of the 2004 Olympic
Games thereof so that the accreditation cards of the persons

removed from the list can be revoked. The Organising
Committee shall
responsible for
then inform the services
issuing visas thereof, notifying the numbers of the visas in
question.

The services responsible for issuing visas shall cancel the visas
of the persons concerned. They shall immediately inform the
authorities responsible for border checks thereof, and the latter
shall without any delay forward this information to the compe-
tent authorities of the other Member States.

Article 9

External border checks

1. When crossing the external borders of the Member States,
the entry checks carried out on members of the Olympic family
who have been issued visas in accordance with this Regulation
shall be limited to verifying compliance with the conditions set
out in Article 3.

For the duration of the Olympic Games and the Paral-

2.
ympic Games:

(a) entry and exit stamps shall be affixed to the first free page
of the passport of those members of the Olympic family
for whom it is necessary to affix such stamps. Upon first
entry the visa number shall be indicated on this same page;

(b) the conditions for entry provided for in Article 5(1)(c) of
the Schengen Convention shall be presumed to be fulfilled
once a member of the Olympic family has been duly accre-
dited.

3.
The provisions of paragraph 2 shall apply to members of
the Olympic family who are third-country nationals, whether
or not they are subject to the visa requirement under Regula-
tion (EC) No 539/2001.

Article 10

Information for the European Parliament and the Council

Not later than four months after the close of the Paralympic
Games, Greece shall transmit to the Commission a report on
the various aspects of the implementation of this Regulation.

On the basis of this report and any information supplied by
other Member States within the same time limit, the Commis-
sion shall draw up an assessment of the functioning of the
derogation in respect of the issue of visas to members of the
Olympic family, as provided for by this Regulation, and shall
inform the European Parliament and the Council thereof. The
Commission shall draw up this evaluation report early enough
for the experience made during the Olympic and Paralympic
Games of Athens to be taken into account by the Italian autho-
rities for the organisation of the Winter Olympic Games which
will be held in Turin in 2006.

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Article 11

Entry into force

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

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 July 2003.

For the Council

The President

G. TREMONTI