The long bureaucratic nightmare of applying for a visa to travel to the European Union became a thing of the past over the weekend. From now on, millions of travellers will be able to get in and around the 22 EU countries that are part of the Schengen zone a lot more easily.
No borders
Just one visa is now required to travel within the Schengen Area, a zone with no internal borders that also includes non-EU members Norway, Iceland and Switzerland. Previously, foreigners encountered problems with many of the new EU member states such as Poland, Latvia and Slovakia, all of which required a separate visa.
The European Commission says the changes are designed to make life "simpler and fairer" for travellers, though they will not apply to anyone looking to stay longer than 90 days. In 2008, around ten million visa requests were received for Schengen Area countries.
Truckers and traders
Life should also become simpler for people such as lorry drivers and small traders who need to weave in and out of the EU on a regular basis, as they will be granted multiple-entry permits more easily. The waiting time for the document should also, in theory, go down to a maximum of four weeks.
However, there are limits: The United Kingdom and Ireland have both opted out of Schengen and Bulgaria, Cyprus, Romania are not yet part of it. All these countries therefore still require separate visas.
Activists go free
Although many non-EU countries, such as Macedonia and Russia, already have visa arrangements in place with the EU, the new code will make a big difference to countries such as Belarus, which is frozen out due to its autocratic regime. In the past, this has made it hard for traders and pro-democracy activists to visit the EU, especially as the visa fee of 60 euros was the same as a month's salary.
People taking part in NGO-sponsored events and people aged 25 or under will now pay nothing, while children will pay 35 euros instead of the standard 60 euro fee.
No comments:
Post a Comment