Recommendation for a Council Decision authorising the opening of negotiations for an Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Cabo Verde on facilitating the issue of short-stay visas

Summary:

Recommendation presented on 13 September 2019 by the European Commission on the opening of negotiations with a view to amending the Agreement on facilitating the issue of short-stay visas to citizens of the Republic of Cape Verde and of the European Union.

Further information:

The purpose of the proposal is to amend the existing Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Cape Verde on facilitating the issue of short-stay visas. The Agreement, which entered into force on 1 December 2014, applies to the issuing of visas to citizens of Cape Verde (hereafter Cabo Verde) for an intended stay in the Schengen area of no more than 90 days per any period of 180 days.

On 2 February 2020, Regulation (EU) 2019/1155 amending the Visa Code will become applicable. In case of contradiction between them, the Agreement, as an international agreement of the Union, would prevail over secondary Union legislation and would thus continue to apply. However, the Visa Code will also apply to matters that are not dealt with by the Agreement. Therefore, some of the provisions of the revised Visa Code will affect the procedures for the issuing of visas to Cabo Verdean citizens.

In light of these developments, the European Commission considers it opportune to adapt the Agreement to align the facilitations granted to Cabo Verdean nationals with revised provisions of the Visa Code.