SCHENGEN BORDERS IN PRACTICE

case study of visa issuance arrangements between Finland and Northwest Federal

district of Russia

OUTLINE

puzzle: Schengen visa – easy to obtain?

‘because’-part: why & how it works with Finns

implications of the puzzle for the EU visa regime

Article 91. The Contracting Parties undertake to adopt a common policy on the movement of persons and, in particular, on the arrangements for visas.

puzzle: Schengen visa – easy to obtain?

The concept ‘common border – common visa policy’:Schengen Convention, 1990

Article K.1For the purposes of achieving the objectives of the Union, in particular the free movement of persons […] Member States shall regard the following areas as matters of common interest: […]2.  rules governing the crossing by persons of the external borders of the Member States and the exercise of controls thereon […]

The concept ‘common border – common visa policy’:Maastricht Treaty on the European Union, 1992

Article 62The Council […] shall […] adopt: […](2) measures on the crossing of the external borders of the Member States which shall establish: […] (b) rules on visas for intended stays of no more than three months, including: […](ii) the procedures and conditions for issuing visas by Member States […]

The concept ‘common border – common visa policy’:Amsterdam Treaty amending TEC, 1997

The concept ‘common border – common visa policy’Secondary legislation

2001 (2007) – COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 539/2001 of 15 March 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

2005 (2002) – COMMON CONSULAR INSTRUCTIONS ON VISAS FOR THE DIPLOMATIC MISSIONS AND CONSULAR POSTS (2005/C 326/01)

2009 – REGULATION (EC) No 810/2009 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 13 July 2009 establishing a Community Code on Visas (Visa Code)

2008 - REGULATION (EC) No 767/2008 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 9 July 2008 concerning the Visa Information System (VIS) and the exchange of data between Member States on short-stay visas (VIS Regulation)

The puzzle: Finish Schengen visas for NWFD of Russia

Every ninth citizen of SPb got Finish Schengen visa in 2008

number of applications number of issued visas0

100000

200000

300000

400000

500000

600000

700000

800000

FinlandEstoniaGermanyItalySpain

Uniform visas (visas ‘C’) issued by selected Member States, 2008

Source: authors’ own calculations based on Council document 12493/09 ‘Exchange of statistical information on uniform visas issued by Member States' diplomatic missions and consular posts’, 2009

71% [519032]

7% [53732]

3% [19240]

19% [142051]

St.Petersburg Petrozavodsk Murmansk Moscow

Number of visas ‘C’ issued by Finnish dip.missions in Russia, 2008

Source: authors’ own calculations based on Council document 12493/09 ‘Exchange of statistical information on uniform visas issued by Member States' diplomatic missions and consular posts’, 2009

Area - 1 687 000 sq.kmPopulation - 13 462 000

A unique regime? Poland and the its border region of the Ukraine?

‘because’-part: why & how it works with Finns

Economic rationale

Confidence habit

20080

500000

1000000

1500000

2000000

2500000

3000000

3500000

number of is-sued visas (all types)

number of trips to Fin-land

Number of visas issued by Finnish dip.missions in Russia and number of trips to Finland by Russians, 2008

Source: authors’ own calculations based on Council document 12493/09 ‘Exchange of statistical information on uniform visas issued by Member States' diplomatic missions and consular posts’, 2009 and Rosturism and Rosstat, 2009

29%

39%

13%

9%6%5%

Others Russia Sweden Estonia Germany Great Britain

Foreign tourists visiting Finland, 2008

Source: RAJAHAASTATTELUTUTKIMUS,BORDER INTERVIEW SURVEY, Finnish Tourist Board / Statistics Finland, 2009

2008 (EUR per day)0

20

40

60

80

100

120

GermanyGreat BritainRussiaSwedenEstonia

Average expenditure of foreign tourists (incl. same-day visitors) per day, 2008

Source: RAJAHAASTATTELUTUTKIMUS,BORDER INTERVIEW SURVEY, Finnish Tourist Board / Statistics Finland, 2009

39%

35%

9%

5%

7%5%

Others Russia Sweden Estonia Germany Great Britain

Total amounts of money brought to Finland by foreign passengers, 2008

Source: RAJAHAASTATTELUTUTKIMUS,BORDER INTERVIEW SURVEY, Finnish Tourist Board / Statistics Finland, 2009

President of Finland, Uhro K. Kekkonen, (R) with Nikita S. Khrushchev (C) at party at Finland Embassy

Historical memory & confidence habit

99%

1%

Total number of return-trips to the EUImmigration to the EU

99%

1%

Total number of return-trips to the EUImmigration to the EU

Russia migration-to-the-EU pattern

The US migration-to-the-EU pattern

2006

implications of the puzzle for the EU visa regime

Common border, territory of MSs, common visa policy Practice is different - even if it is a unique case Visa-free regime with Russia – another example?

‘as the minister said, we have discussed visas as well; what I would saying in term of future as we need to focus very much on the substance of what we need to achieve between us to enable us to reach the point and we will continue with that work’

(Catherine ASHTON, Press conference, 24 February 2010)

‘Exemption from the visa requirement between the EU and Russia is an important goal, which will markedly increase and facilitate interaction between citizens in due course. Finland favours rapid progress towards the introduction of a visa-free travel regime based on jointly agreed reciprocally binding terms’

(Russia Action Plan, 2009)

‘I consider that the lower barriers between us get, the sooner and better we can achieve a visa-free regime’

(Alexander Stubb, a meeting with Sankt Petersburg Governor Valentina Matvienko, 2008)

Alexander Stubb

Picture sources

‘Frontier zone’ by foothillpete, http://www.flickr.com/photos/peten/91381230/sizes/l/‘eu puzzle_1’, Scottish International Investment, http://www.scot-invest.com/images/pictures/eu_puzzle1.jpg‘Signing of the Schengen Agreement (14 June 1985)’, © Service Information et Presse du Gouvernement luxembourgeois, http://www.ena.lu/‘The Maastricht Treaty’ by Konrad Dwojak, http://www.flickr.com/photos/konradd/384948344/‘amsterdamtreaty’, CIVITAS, EU FACTS, http://www.civitas.org.uk/eufacts/graphics/amsterdamtreaty.jpg‘Queue for essential goods’, Tenetour, http://images.google.ru/imgres?imgurl=http://www.tenetour.com/History/large/queue_for_essential_goods.jpeg&imgrefurl=http://www.tenetour.com/history8.php&usg=__x-0dH_ursjlzMFAWMkyeFvK_ZJk=&h=365&w=669&sz=55&hl=ru&start=45&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=8fa-OoImcD-81M:&tbnh=75&tbnw=138&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dsoviet%2Bqueue%26start%3D42%26um%3D1%26hl%3Dru%26lr%3D%26newwindow%3D1%26sa%3DN%26rlz%3D1G1GGLQ_RURU284%26ndsp%3D21%26tbs%3Disch:1‘Northwest Federal District’, THE OFFICIAL KARELIA. The Republic of Karelia State Government Bodies’ Official Web Portal, http://www.gov.karelia.ru/gov/Maps/nw1_e.gif‘at the polish/ukrainian border’ by bike2chemnitz, http://www.flickr.com/photos/bike2where/2967732986/‘joliette’ by -Antoine-, http://www.flickr.com/photos/rouleau/158302540/‘President of Finland, Uhro K. Kekkonen, (R) w. Nikita S. Khrushchev (C) at party at Finland Embassy’ by Carl Mydans, http://cache1.asset-cache.net/xc/50554543.jpg?v=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=E41C9FE5C4AA0A14D34ADF54AB9DE9DB6DDCA825C8C3CA71E818EF4E0625F85DB01E70F2B3269972‘Alexsander Stubb’, Alexsander Stubb’s web site, http://www.alexstubb.com/