Honourable Members,
I welcome the agreement on this important file.
I would like to praise the Rapporteur, Mr Lopez Aguilar and the Shadow Rapporteurs for their work on this new legislation.
The tourism and travel industry plays a key role in the European economy, representing around 10% of the EU’s GDP.
Lenghty and cumbersome procedures can deter tourists from travelling to Europe.
This would deprive us of investment and spending, and affect negatively the EU’s economy.
The agreed changes will make it easier for millions of travelers to obtain visa to come to the EU every year, facilitating tourism, trade and business.
Making the process easier will not mean a free pass to the European Union nor more lax security checks.
The new rules will actually improve and strengthen our security standards, to detect those who pose a threat or have no right to enter the EU.
A new mechanism in our visa code will enable us to use the leverage of our visa policy, in cooperation with non-EU countries, when it comes to the return and readmission of irregular migrants.
The new rules include procedures that are more flexible for travelers coming to the Schengen area.
While, according to the current rules, the earliest date one can file an application is three months prior to their trip, the new rules extend this period to six months.
Equal treatment of applicants will also be ensured.
Frequent travellers with a positive visa history can receive a multiple-entry visa with a gradually increasing validity period from 1 year to a maximum of 5 years.
This will save time and decrease costs both for applicants and Member States.
At the same time, the fulfilment of entry conditions by the travellers will be thoroughly and repeatedly verified in all cases.
A moderate increase of the Schengen visa fee from €60 to €80 is also suggested, in order to secure additional resources for strengthening security.
This modest increase will allow Member States to maintain adequate levels of consular staff worldwide.
This will ensure stronger security screenings, as well as the upgrading of IT equipment and software, without representing an obstacle for the visa applicants.
To sum it all up, the new EU Visa Code will adapt the rules to evolving security concerns, challenges linked to migration and new opportunities offered by technological development.
I hope you will support this compromise reached and I am looking forward to our debate.