EU Visa and Border Control Policies: What Roles for Security and Reciprocity?

An analysis of the EU visa policy highlights the multi-faceted nature of visas as an internal security and external policy instrument. It provides some insights on how several internal and external policies interrelate in the context of the EU sui generis nature. The EU visa policy is part of the EU Integrated Border Management (IBM) Strategy, itself an aspect of the construction of Europe as an 'Area of Freedom, Security and Justice'. The introduction of Community competence in this field has been gradual both in terms of the aspects of visa policy covered and the applicable institutional rules. Pre-entry screening is not limited to visa nationals. It is also extended to non-visa and EU nationals under the advance passenger information (API) Directive. The Visa Regulation lists the criteria used to decide whether a third country is to be included in the black list.