Proposal establishing the European Union’s position within the Joint Committee under the Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Cape Verde on facilitating the issue of short-stay visas, with regard to the adoption of common guidelines for the implementation of the Agreement

The Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Cape Verde on facilitating the issue of short-stay visas to citizens of the Republic of Cape Verde and of the European Union entered into force on 1 December 2014. The Agreement established, on the basis of reciprocity, legally binding rights and obligations for the purpose of simplifying the visa issuing procedures for the citizens of Cape Verde and for the EU citizens. Article 10 of this Agreement sets up a Joint Committee tasked to monitor the implementation of the Agreement.

The common guidelines for this Agreement are necessary in order to ensure a fully harmonised implementation of the Visa Facilitation Agreement amongst the consulates of the Member States and of the Republic of Cape Verde, and for clarifying the relationship between the provisions of that Agreement and the provisions of the contracting parties that continue to apply to visa issues not covered by the Agreement. The implementing guidelines to be adopted will not be part of the Agreement; however, it is highly recommended that diplomatic and consular staff consistently follow them when implementing the provisions of the Agreement.

The Guidelines have been prepared in line with the Agreement which contains provisions on facilitations in the procedures for issuing visas for an intended stay of no more than 90 days per period of 180 days in the Schengen area for the citizens of Cape Verde and of the EU, as well as with the EU legislation in the area of common visa policy, such as the Visa Code.

EUR-Lex: COM(2015)482: Follow the progress of this proposal through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2015:482:FIN

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