BAKGRUNN (fra Kommisjonens konsultasjonsnettside, engelsk utgave)

Have you obtained a short-stay ‘Schengen’ visa over the past three years?
The Commission is reviewing the procedures for issuing these visas and would like to hear your views on your experience. The idea is to modernise the policy and your input via this public consultation will help us to make the right changes.

The legislation ( Regulation No 810/2009 Visa Code ) on issuing short-stay visas for travel in the Schengen area (the ‘Visa Code’) has now been in force for three years.

Now the Commission wants to assess whether the legislation has achieved its objectives. Building on this evaluation, the Commission plans to propose amendments to revise the Visa Code and to further develop and modernise the common visa policy [1].

Among the aims of this review are to ensure that EU visa policy fosters economic growth and cultural exchange by facilitating the process for legitimate travellers to the EU, such as business people, tourists, students and young people, while ensuring a high level of security for the EU.

That is why the Commission wants to hear from the main ‘users’ of the common visa policy: individuals, interest groups, advocacy groups and professional organisations. We want to hear from as broad a range of users as possible, as it is important to get views and input from all stakeholders.