Britons may need a visa to visit mainland Europe after Brexit if agreement with Spain cannot be reached.
British tourists travelling to continental Europe may need to pay €60 or £52 for a Schengen visa after Spanish demands over the status of Gibraltar again derailed Brussels’ preparations for Brexit. Agreement on legislation exempting UK nationals from requiring the travel permit is mired in a dispute over whether the British overseas territory should be described as a “colony” in the EU’s statute book.
The row over description of Gibraltar, about which Spain has been in dispute with Britain for three centuries, erupted again last month when Spain made its demand, with the reluctant support of the other 26 mainland member states, that a footnote containing the contentious description of the disputed territory be added to the legislation. Madrid initially wanted all the EU’s no deal legislation to note that Gibraltar was disputed and on a UN list of “non-self-governing territories … subject to decolonisation”. That move was blocked by France, as the territories of French Polynesia and New Caledonia are also on that list. The compromise note on the visa legislation proposed by ambassadors instead states that “Gibraltar is a colony of the British crown”. The British ambassador in Brussels, Sir Tim Barrow, has formally tabled his opposition to the description while prime minister Theresa May’s official spokesman criticised the Spanish approach when details emerged.
The European parliament on Wednesday morning rejected the language proposed by the council of the EU, the body that represents the member states. It is the third time the member states’ proposal has been sent back by MEPs and casts doubt over whether the legislation can be salvaged in the next few weeks. As a compromise, the parliament has suggested that the footnote could be reduced to acknowledging there is a “controversy between Spain and the United Kingdom concerning the sovereignty of Gibraltar”.
The legislation being discussed by the EU institutions would put the UK on a visa exemption list from March 29, the date on which that country formally leaves the group. Until 2021, British travellers would not need a visa even if the UK leaves the EU without a deal. Thereafter however, UK nationals would need to pay £7 for three years visa-free travel under a new EU travel information and authorisation system which is being introduced for all non-EU states.
Should the Commons ratify the prime minister’s withdrawal agreement, UK nationals would continue to be treated as EU citizens during a 21-month transition period, providing more time for a solution on the visa exemption to be found. However if the impasse is not broken and there is a no deal Brexit on March 29, British nationals seeking to visit an EU country for less than 90 days will be required to apply for a Schengen visa which can take two weeks to be authorised.
