The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs adopted the report by Claude MORAES (S&D, UK) on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Regulation (EC) No 539/2001 listing the third countries whose nationals must be in possession of visas when crossing the external borders and those whose nationals are exempt from that requirement, as regards the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Union.
This Commission proposal is part of the legislative measures necessary to adjust Union law to Brexit. It aims to clarify the situation of UK nationals when Union law ceases to apply to them as regards visa policy.
The Commission proposes to insert the United Kingdom as regards British citizens into Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 539/2001 (i.e. in the list of third countries whose nationals are exempt from the visa requirement).
The committee recommended that the European Parliament adopt its position at first reading by specifying in a recital that this decision is based on the expectation that, in the interest of maintaining close relations, the United Kingdom will grant full visa reciprocity to the nationals of all Member States.
In case the United Kingdom introduces a visa requirement for nationals of at least one Member State in the future, the reciprocity mechanism provided for in Regulation (EC) No 539/2001 should apply. The Commission should monitor the respect of the principle of reciprocity on a continuous basis and immediately inform the European Parliament and the Council of any developments which could endanger the respect of this principle.