Travel to Brazil for all European Union citizens is set to become easier after the European Commission adopted draft decisions on short stay visa waiver agreements for holders of ordinary passports.
Although Brazil already has bilateral visa waiver agreements with European member states the scope and categories of people able to benefit varies and a full visa is still required for citizens of four countries, Estonia, Cyprus, Malta and Latvia.
The draft follows two years of negotiations and the decision now needs to be approved by the European Council, ratified by EU states and the Brazilian parliament.
Two separate agreements are likely to be put in place, one for ordinary passport holders and one for diplomats and state officials.
The EU-Brazil visa waiver agreements will give reciprocal access to visa free travel for all Brazilian and EU citizens, including the nationals of the four member states not enjoying visa free travel to Brazil at present.
It will mean that ordinary passport holders traveling for the purposes of tourism and business for a short stay of up to three months will not need a visa. Their stay will be limited to three months during a six-month period.
‘Once these agreements enter into force, they will have a real positive impact on the everyday life of our citizens, especially of the citizens of Malta, Estonia, Cyprus and Latvia which for the time being still need a visa to travel to Brazil,’ said Cecilia Malmström, EU Home Affairs Commissioner.
‘The Commission will make every effort in order to enable the signature and ratification of these agreements at the earliest possible occasion,’ she added.
The EU got involved because the nature of the common visa policy and the exclusive external competence of the European Union in this area meant that only the Union may negotiate and conclude a visa waiver agreement and not the individual member states.
The agreement takes into account the situation of the Member States that do not yet apply Schengen rules in full. As long as they are not part of the Schengen area without internal borders, the visa waiver confers a right for the nationals of Brazil to stay for three months in Cyprus, Bulgaria, Romania, independently of the period calculated for the whole Schengen area.
The duration of stay is limited by the agreement to three months during a six-month period in the Schengen area. Thus, this agreement puts an end to the possibility provided to Brazilian nationals by the bilateral agreements to cumulate the three months stays per Member State in the Schengen area.
The final content of the visa waiver agreement for diplomatic, service or official passport holders is similar with the exception that it applies for all purposes of travel.
