PURPOSE: to conclude, on behalf of the Union,
the Agreement between the European Union and Brazil amending the
Agreement between the European Union and Brazil on short-stay visa
waiver for holders of ordinary passports.
PROPOSED ACT: Council Decision.
ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: Council may
adopt the act only if Parliament has given its consent to the
act.
BACKGROUND: Regulation
(EU) No 610/2013 amended the Convention implementing the
Schengen Agreement (CISA), Regulation
(EC) No 562/2006 (Schengen Borders Code) and Regulation
(EC) No 810/2009 (the Visa Code). In so doing, it has
redefined the term of short-stay for
third-country nationals in the Schengen area.
As from 18 October 2013, for third-country
nationals irrespective of being visa required or exempt
who intend to travel to the Schengen area for a short-stay,
the maximum duration of authorised stay is defined as '90 days in
any 180-day period'.
The agreement between the Union
and Brazil on the short-stay visa waiver should incorporate this
new definition.
With a view to implementing the new definition
of short stay provided for in the amendment to the Schengen Borders
Code, the Commission adopted on 16 July 2014 a recommendation for a
Council Decision authorising negotiations to amend the Schengen the
short-stay visa waiver between the European Union and seven
countries: Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados,
Brazil, Mauritius, Saint Kitts and Nevis and the
Seychelles.
The negotiations with Brazil were successfully
finalised on 31 October 2017 by the initialling of the agreements
amending the two Agreements between the European Union and Brazil
on short-stay visa waiver for holders of diplomatic, service or
official passports, and for holders of ordinary
passports.
Both parties have agreed to adopt the new
definition of 'short-stay', among other technical details, but all
amendments are insignificant from the traveller's point of
view.
CONTENT: the Commission calls on the Council to
adopt a decision aiming to approve the Agreement between the
European Union and Brazil on the short-stay visa
waiverfor holders of ordinary
passports.
The final content of the agreement may be
summarised as follows:
Purpose and duration of
stay: the
Agreement provides for visa-free travel for the citizens of the
European Union and for the citizens of Brazil when travelling to
the other Contracting Party for a maximum period of 90 days in any
180-day period (instead of a maximum period of three months during
a six months period following the date of first entry).
An amendment has been made clarifying that a
suspension of the visa waiver shall actually be lifted if the
reasons that led to the suspension disappear. On this point, the
amendment aligns the wording of the agreement with Brazil on
short-stay visa waiver for holders of ordinary passports with that
of all other visa waiver agreements signed by the Union in 2015 and
2016.
Entry into force: the Agreement will enter into
force on the first day of the 6th month following the date on which
the last Contracting Party notifies the other that the ratification
procedures have been completed. To ensure legal certainty and
enable travellers to comprehend the law and to comply with it, a
sufficiently long transitional period is necessary. Once
ratification of the Agreement has been completed, the six-month
period will allow travellers to complete short stays that are still
entirely calculated under the old definition, before entry into
force of the new short-stay definition and its 180-day
backward-looking reference period.
All other provisions of the existing agreement
between the European Union and Brazil on short-stay visa waiver for
holders of ordinary passports remain unaffected by the
Agreement, including the territorial scope.
Territorial
application: the
provisions of the Agreement do not apply to the United Kingdom or
to Ireland.
The Union has no power to amend visa waiver
agreements that would bind the four countries that are associated
with the implementation of the Schengen acquis, including the
common visa policy. In order to ensure a harmonised approach and
implementation of the provisions on the duration of authorised stay
in the Schengen area, a joint declaration is included in the
Agreement, stating the desirability for Brazil, on the one hand,
and Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, on the other,
to accordingly modify their existing bilateral visa waiver
agreements.