Sixth Report under the Visa Suspension Mechanism

Summary:

Report published by the European Commission on 18 October 2023, assessing the fulfilment of requirements by the Western Balkans and Eastern Partnership countries relating to visa liberalisation. This report also covers countries in the Pacific and the Caribbean which have investor citizenship schemes in place.

Further information:

The Visa Suspension Mechanism exempts third-country nationals from the visa requirement for stays of up to 90 days in any 180-day period. Regulation (EU) 2018/1806 requires the European Commission to monitor the continuous fulfilment of visa liberalisation requirements by third countries and to report it at least once a year. These reports have been published since 2017.

The report concludes that all eight countries in the Western Balkans and Eastern Partnership need to take further action to align their visa policy with the European Union's (EU) and continue their efforts to prevent unfounded asylum applications. Further efforts are also needed in the prevention of irregular migration as well as in the fight against organised crime and corruption. The report also highlights the Commission's concerns about investor citizenship schemes that are promoting visa-free access to the EU.

Official

European Commission: Press Release, 18/10/2023: Commission proposes a more robust suspension mechanism to visa-free travel https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_23_4961

European Commission: Questions and Answers on the revision of the suspension mechanism for visa-free travel and accompanying Report (18 October 2023) https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/qanda_23_4988

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