The EU’s official website says the European Parliament and the European Council have reached an agreement on new rules for suspending visa-free travel for short-term visits to the EU.
The revised mechanism will give the EU greater flexibility to respond to countries that violate key principles of visa-free agreements, including security threats and human rights abuses.
Under the new law, legal grounds for suspension will include violations of the UN Charter, international human rights or humanitarian law, and non-compliance with international court rulings. Additional triggers include hybrid threats—such as the state-driven instrumentalization of migrants—security risks from investor citizenship schemes (“golden passports”), and divergence from EU visa policy that could lead to illegal migration. Existing reasons for suspension, such as lack of cooperation on readmission, will remain in place.
