Decision No 582/2008/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 June 2008 introducing a simplified regime for the control of persons at the external borders based on the unilateral recognition by Bulgaria, Cyprus and Romania of certain documents as equivalent to their national visas for the purposes of transit through their territories
Date: 2008-06-17
Institutions: Council of the European Union, European Parliament
Subjects: Bulgaria, Cyprus, EU visa policy, Romania, border control, external border of the EU, foreign national

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DECISIONS ADOPTED JOINTLY BY THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE
COUNCIL

DECISION No 582/2008/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

of 17 June 2008

introducing a simplified regime for the control of persons at the external borders based on the
unilateral recognition by Bulgaria, Cyprus and Romania of certain documents as equivalent to their
national visas for the purposes of transit through their territories

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE
EUROPEAN UNION,

(2)

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

establishing the European

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Acting in accordance with the procedure
Article 251 of the Treaty (1),

laid down in

Whereas:

(3)

(4)

(1)

Pursuant to Article 4(1) of the 2005 Act of Accession,
Bulgaria and Romania, which acceded to the Union on
1 January 2007, are required from that date to subject
nationals of third countries, which are listed in Annex I
to 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
from that
requirement (2), to a visa obligation.

exempt

(1) Opinion of the European Parliament of 31 January 2008 (not yet
published in the Official Journal) and Council Decision of 5 June
2008.

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

(EC) No 1932/2006 (OJ L 405, 30.12.2006, p. 23).

According to Article 4(2) of the 2005 Act of Accession,
the provisions of the Schengen acquis on the conditions
and criteria for issuing uniform visas, as well as the
provisions on mutual recognition of visas and on the
equivalence between residence permits and visas, apply
in Bulgaria and Romania only pursuant to a Council
decision to that effect. However, they are binding on
those Member States from the date of accession.

Bulgaria and Romania are therefore required to issue
through their
national visas for entry into or transit
territory to third country nationals holding a uniform
visa or long-stay visa or residence permit issued by a
Member State fully implementing the Schengen acquis
or similar document issued by Cyprus, a Member State
not yet fully implementing it.

The holders of documents issued by those Member States
fully implementing the Schengen acquis and similar
documents issued by Cyprus do not represent any risk
for Bulgaria and Romania as they have been subjected to
all necessary controls by other Member States. In order
to avoid imposing unjustified additional administrative
burdens on Bulgaria and Romania, rules similar to the
common rules introduced by Decision No 895/2006/EC
of
the Council of
14 June 2006 introducing a simplified regime for the
control of persons at the external borders based on the
unilateral recognition by the Czech Republic, Estonia,
Cyprus,
Poland,
Slovenia and Slovakia of certain documents as equivalent
to their national visas for the purposes of transit through
their territories (3) should be introduced for Bulgaria and
Romania.

the European Parliament and of

Lithuania, Hungary, Malta,

Latvia,

(3) OJ L 167, 20.6.2006, p. 1.

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(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

(9)

laid down in this Decision should
Common rules
authorise Bulgaria and Romania to recognise unilaterally
certain documents issued by Member States fully im-
plementing the Schengen acquis and documents listed
in the Annex to Decision No 895/2006/EC issued by
Cyprus, as equivalent
to their national visas and to
establish a simplified regime for the control of persons
at
external borders based on this unilateral
the
equivalence.

Those common rules should also enable Cyprus to
recognise visas and residence permits issued by Bulgaria
and Romania as equivalent to its national visas for the
purpose of transit through its territory.

The simplified regime laid down in this Decision should
apply for a transitional period, until
the date to be
determined by a Council decision as referred to in the
first subparagraph of Article 3(2) of the 2003 Act of
Accession in respect of Cyprus and the first subparagraph
of Article 4(2) of the 2005 Act of Accession in respect of
Bulgaria and Romania, subject to possible transitional
provisions in respect of documents issued before that
date.

transit

The recognition of a document should be limited to the
purpose of
through the territory of Bulgaria,
Cyprus and Romania. Participation in the simplified
imposing on the
regime should be optional, without
Member States obligations additional
to those laid
down by the 2003 Act of Accession and the 2005 Act
of Accession.

as

The common rules should apply to uniform visas, long-
stay visas and residence permits issued by Member States
fully implementing the Schengen acquis
(which also
include,
the Czech
from 21 December 2007,
Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta,
similar documents
Poland, Slovenia
and Slovakia),
issued by Cyprus as well as to short-term visas,
long-
stay visas and residence permits issued by Bulgaria and
Romania.

(11)

(12)

(13)

thereof,

Community Code on the rules governing the movement
of persons across borders (Schengen Borders Code) (1)
have to be fulfilled, with the exception of the condition
laid down in Article 5(1)(b)
insofar as this
Decision extending the common rules provided for in
Decision No 895/2006/EC sets up a regime of unilateral
recognition by Bulgaria
certain
documents issued by Member States fully implementing
the Schengen acquis, similar documents issued by Cyprus
as well as unilateral recognition by Cyprus of short-term
visas,
long-stay visas and residence permits issued by
Bulgaria and Romania for the purpose of transit.

and Romania of

a

Since the objective of this Decision, namely the intro-
duction of
recognition by
regime of unilateral
Bulgaria, Cyprus and Romania of certain documents
issued by other Member States, cannot be sufficiently
achieved by Member States and can,
therefore, by
reason of the scale and effects of the action, be better
achieved at Community level, the Community may adopt
measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity
as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty. In accordance with
the principle of proportionality, as set out in that Article,
this Decision does not go beyond what is necessary in
order to achieve this objective.

concluded by the Council of

This Decision does not constitute a development of the
provisions of the Schengen acquis within the meaning of
the Agreement
the
European Union and the Republic of Iceland and the
Kingdom of Norway concerning the association of
those two States with the implementation, application
is
and development of
addressed only to Bulgaria, Cyprus and Romania which
fully implementing the Schengen acquis.
are not yet
However, for the coherence and proper functioning of
the Schengen system, this Decision also covers visas and
residence permits
such as
Iceland and Norway, which are associated with the
implementation, application and development of
the
Schengen acquis and which fully implement it.

the Schengen acquis (2), as it

issued by third countries

In accordance with Articles 1 and 2 of the Protocol on
the Position of the United Kingdom and Ireland, annexed
to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaty
these Member
establishing the European Community,
States are not
this
Decision.

in the adoption of

taking part

(10)

The entry conditions laid down in Article 5(1) of Regu-
lation (EC) No 562/2006 of the European Parliament and
the Council of 15 March 2006 establishing a
of

(1) OJ L 105, 13.4.2006, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 176, 10.7.1999, p. 36.

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(14)

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 Decision and is not bound by it
or subject to its application,

(ii) a ‘long-stay visa’ as referred to in Article 18 of
Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement;

the

(iii) a ‘residence permit’ as

included in Annex IV to the

Common Consular Instructions.

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

This Decision introduces a simplified regime for the control of
persons at the external borders whereby:

— Bulgaria

and Romania may

recognise unilaterally

as
equivalent to their national visas for the purpose of transit
the documents referred to in Articles 2 and 3, as well as
those referred to in Article 4, issued by those two Member
States and by Cyprus to third country nationals subject to a
visa obligation pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 539/2001,

— Cyprus may recognise unilaterally as equivalent

to its
national visas for the purpose of
the documents
referred to in Article 4 issued by Bulgaria and Romania to
third country nationals subject to a visa obligation pursuant
to Regulation (EC) No 539/2001.

transit

The implementation of this Decision shall not affect the checks
to be carried out on persons at
the external borders in
accordance with Articles 5 to 13 and Articles 18 to 19 of
Regulation (EC) No 562/2006.

Article 2

for

Bulgaria and Romania may consider as equivalent to their
1.
following
national visa,
documents issued by the Member States fully implementing
the Schengen acquis,
the
irrespective of
holders:

the nationality of

the purpose of

transit,

the

If Bulgaria and Romania decide to apply this Decision,
referred to in
shall

2.
they
paragraph 1, regardless of which State issued the document.

the documents

recognise

all

Article 3

If Bulgaria and Romania decide to apply Article 2, they may
and
recognise national
short-term visas,
residence permits issued by Cyprus as equivalent
to their
national visas for the purpose of transit.

long-stay

visas

Documents issued by Cyprus which may be recognised are
listed in the Annex to Decision No 895/2006/EC.

Article 4

Moreover, Bulgaria and Romania may also recognise national
short-term visas, long-stay visas and residence permits issued by
each other as equivalent to their national visas for the purpose
of transit.

The documents issued by Bulgaria and Romania which may be
recognised pursuant to this Decision are listed in the Annex.

Cyprus may also recognise the national short-term visas, long-
stay visas and residence permits issued by Bulgaria and Romania
listed in the Annex as equivalent to its national visas for the
purpose of transit.

Article 5

Bulgaria, Cyprus and Romania may recognise documents as
equivalent to their national visas for the purpose of transit
only if
the transit by the third country
national through their territory does not exceed five days.

the duration of

(i) a ‘uniform visa’ as

referred to in Article 10 of

the

Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement;

The period of validity of the documents referred to in Articles
2, 3 and 4 shall cover the duration of the transit.

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Article 6

Bulgaria, Cyprus and Romania shall notify the Commission
within 10 working days of
this
Decision, if they decide to apply this Decision. The Commission
shall publish the information communicated by those Member
States in the Official Journal of the European Union.

the entry into force of

After the date, as referred to in the second paragraph, has been
determined by the relevant Council decision in respect of a
Member State, that Member State shall recognise during their
period of validity, national short-term visas issued before that
date until the last day of the sixth month from that date, for the
purpose of
that
Member State has given the notification referred to in
Article 6. During that period, the conditions set out in this
Decision shall apply.

through its territory, provided that

transit

Article 7

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

Article 8

This Decision is addressed to Bulgaria, Cyprus and Romania.

It shall apply until the date determined by a Council decision
adopted pursuant to the first subparagraph of Article 3(2) of the
2003 Act of Accession in respect of Cyprus and to the first
subparagraph of Article 4(2) of the 2005 Act of Accession in
respect of Bulgaria and Romania, on which all the provisions of
the Schengen acquis in the field of the common visa policy and
the movement of third country nationals legally residing within
the territory of the Member States shall apply to the Member
State concerned.

Done at Strasbourg, 17 June 2008.

For the European Parliament
The President

H.-G. PÖTTERING

For the Council
The President

J. LENARČIČ

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ANNEX

List of documents issued by BULGARIA

— Визa за транзитно преминаване (виза вид B) – Transit visa (type B).

V i s a s

— Визa за краткосрочно пребиваване (виза вид C) – Short-stay visa (type C).

— Виза за дългосрочно пребиваване (виза вид D) – Long-stay visa (type D).

R e s i d e n c e p e r m i t s
— Карта на продължително пребиваващ в Република България чужденец – Long-term residence card for foreign nationals.

— Карта на постоянно пребиваващ в Република България чужденец – Permanent residence card for foreign nationals.

— Удостоверение за завръщане в Република България на чужденец – Permit conferring on foreign nationals the right to

return to the Republic of Bulgaria.

List of documents issued by ROMANIA

V i s a s

— viză de tranzit, identificată prin simbolul B (transit visa, identified by B symbol),

— viză de scurtă ședere, identificată prin simbolul C (short-stay visa, identified by C symbol),

— viză de lungă ședere, identificată prin unul dintre următoarele simboluri, în funcție de activitatea pe care urmează să o
desfășoare în România străinul căruia i-a fost acordată (long-stay visa, identified by one of the following symbols,
according to the activity that the alien receiving the visa is to perform in Romania):

(i) desfășurarea de activități economice, identificată prin simbolul D/AE (economic activities, identified by D/AE

symbol);

(ii) desfășurarea de activități profesionale, identificată prin simbolul D/AP (professional activities, identified by D/AP

symbol);

(iii) desfășurarea de activități comerciale, identificată prin simbolul D/AC (commercial activities, identified by D/AC

symbol);

(iv) angajare în munca, identificată prin simbolul D/AM (employment, identified by D/AM symbol);

(v) studii, identificată prin simbolul D/SD (studies, identified by D/SD symbol);

(vi) reîntregirea familiei, identificată prin simbolul D/VF (family reunification, identified by D/VF symbol);

(vii) activități de cercetare științifică, identificată prin simbolul D/CS (scientific research activities, identified by D/CS

symbol);

(viii) activități religioase sau umanitare, identificată prin simbolul D/RU (religious or humanitarian activities, identified

by D/RU symbol);

(ix) viză diplomatică și viză de serviciu, identificată prin simbolul DS (diplomatic visa and service visa, identified by

DS symbol);

(x) alte scopuri, identificată prin simbolul D/AS (other purposes, identified by D/AS symbol).

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— Permis de ședere temporară (temporary residence permit),

R e s i d e n c e p e r m i t s

— Permis de ședere permanentă (permanent residence permit),

— Carte de rezidență – pentru străinii membri de familie ai cetățenilor români (residence card – for aliens who are family

members of Romanian citizens),

— Carte de rezidență permanentă – pentru străinii membri de familie ai cetățenilor români (permanent residence card –

for aliens who are family members of Romanian citizens).