00:00 The European Commission has proposed to strengthen the rules for the issuance of the visa obligation
00:06 to combat the abuse of visa freedom in Europe.
00:09 The revised rules would give the EU more flexibility in the ongoing issuance of its visa-free
00:17 travel regulations, even if it is of the opinion that the policy of third countries could lead
00:21 to an increased influx of migrants into the EU.
00:26 Margaritis Schieners, Vice President of the European Commission, said on Wednesday that
00:32 the EU regulations for visa-free travel would bring enormous benefits, but that the EU would
00:37 also have to ensure that its visa-free framework would not be abused and that it would have
00:42 the power to act if this were to be the case.
00:45 The EU fears that some of the 60 countries that have visa-free access to the European
00:52 Union could be used as a transit hub for irregular migrants to enter the EU, which
00:59 includes 27 countries.
01:01 "Last year we had about 150,000 asylum applications from citizens from visa-free countries, and
01:08 that is of course enormous.
01:10 And that is of course not the way visa-free travel should be used," said EU Commissioner
01:18 Ilva Johansson.
01:19 The announcement came at a time when the EU was struggling with a strong increase in
01:25 irregular arrivals, especially in Mediterranean countries such as Italy and Greece.
01:30 On Wednesday, the EU executive also proposed an action plan to counter the increasing number
01:37 of irregular migrants arriving via the eastern Mediterranean route to Europe.
01:43 This includes strengthened border protection and closer cooperation with transit and destination
01:50 countries.
01:51 The tightened rules for the issuance of visa obligations also aim to take action against
01:57 so-called investor citizenship programs offered by third countries to deal with the EU's
02:03 visa policy.
02:04 There are countries that have a visa-free regulation with the EU that pass state citizenships
02:12 and sell them to people at a fairly low price, which represents a security risk or a potential
02:17 security risk for the European Union, said Johansson.
02:22 The Chinese and Johansson commissioners also confirmed on Wednesday how important it is
02:28 to ensure the rapid return of irregular migrants, which represents a security risk for transit
02:34 or destination countries.
02:36 They said two days after Abdel Salem El, who was irregularly staying in Belgium and was
02:43 asked to return to his homeland Tunisia, had killed two Swedish state members in a terrorist
02:50 attack in Brussels.
02:51 "We have to strengthen our efforts to send people back to their homeland," Johansson
02:59 said.
03:00 "There will be no migration and asylum policy in the European Union without a meaningful
03:06 return culture," said Chinas.
03:08 "Europe will always remain a place of asylum for those who flee war, persecution and discrimination.
03:16 But those who have no reason to stand under the protection of the European Union cannot
03:23 stay with us," he added.
03:25 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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