The Visa suspension mechanism was first introduced as part of the EU’s visa policy in 2013. The mechanism gives a possibility to temporarily suspend the visa exemption for a non-EU country, for a short period of time, in case of a substantial increase in irregular migration from the partner countries.
The European Parliament and the Council adopted a revised mechanism which entered into force in 2017. Under the revised mechanism, the Commission can trigger the suspension mechanism, whereas previously only Member States could do so
The suspension mechanism can be triggered if one or more Member States notify the Commission that at least one of the following circumstances are met:
a) a substantial increase (more than 50%) of irregular stays or refusals of entry;
b) a substantial increase (more than 50%) of applications for international protection with a low recognition rate (around 3-4%);
c) a decrease of cooperation on readmission, notably in case of an increasing refusal rate for readmission applications; or
d) an increased risk or imminent threat to the public policy or internal security of Member States, in particular a substantial increase (more than 50%) in serious criminal offences linked to the nationals of a particular third country
Although the visa suspension mechanism has been triggered once, it has not resulted in the suspension of any visa exemption. The visa-free movement continues to bring positive economic, social and cultural benefits to EU Member States and partner countries.
While 61 countries around the world benefit from visa-free travel to the EU, in some cases, visa free access can be decided following bilateral negotiations, called ‘visa liberalisation dialogues’. They are based on the progress made by the countries concerned in implementing major reforms in areas such as strengthening the rule of law, combating organised crime, corruption and migration management and improving administrative capacity in border control and security of documents.
The policy documents and full report is available here
