THE European Commission (EC) has released a proposal for the creation of a new visa that would allow travel within the Schengen area for up to a year, one in a raft of initiatives to draw more arrivals from major outbound markets.
Currently known as the touring visa, it grants visitors passage through the Schengen area for one year with the option of an extension for up to two years, though visitors are disallowed from staying in one member state for more than 90 days within an 180-day period.
The EC has also rolled out a number of proposed changes to Schengen visa rules, noting in its press release that non-EU travellers tended to face “cumbersome, lengthy and costly visa procedures” when applying for short stays.
These include:
– Reducing the deadline from 15 to 10 days for processing and taking a decision
– Making it possible to lodge visa applications in other EU countries’ consulates if the member state competent for processing the visa application is neither present nor represented
– Substantial facilitations for regular travellers including mandatory issuing of multiple-entry visas valid for three years
– Simplified application form and allowing for online applications
– Possibility for member states to devise special schemes granting visas at the borders for up to 15 days in one Schengen state
– Possibility for member states to facilitate the issuing of visa for visitors attending major events
Approvals for the touring visa and reworking of the visa code must be obtained from the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament, and are expected in 2015 at the earliest.
Antonio Tajani, European Commission vice president responsible for industry and entrepreneurship, commented: “Our proposal will help (the) European tourism industry at a time when international competition is becoming increasingly fierce with a growing number of countries relying on tourism as a factor for growth. The new visa rules are the answer to this challenge. These changes will help the tourism industry to deal with the expected considerable increase of the flows of tourists visiting Europe. Tourism is Europe´s growth engine and has been the most important stronghold of European economy during the recent crisis.”
A study cited by the EC stated that in 2012, some 6.6 million potential travellers from the six countries with the most travellers (China, India, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Ukraine) were ‘lost’ due to the hassle of applying for a visa.
On the other hand, the report predicted that streamlining visa rules would boost the number of trips to the Schengen region by 30 to 60 per cent from those countries alone, and generate 1.3 million jobs in tourism and related sectors.
