Today, the Council adopted a regulation ensuring that the whole Western Balkan region is subject to the same visa regime, by removing the exclusion previously applied to holders of Serbian passports issued by the Serbian Coordination Directorate.
Next steps
Today’s adoption by the Council concludes the legislative process. As soon as the regulation enters into force, which will happen on the 20th day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the EU, it will become applicable in all EU member states.
Background
Since December 2009, holders of Serbian biometric passports were exempted from the visa requirement when travelling to the Schengen area. One category of holders of Serbian passports was excluded from the visa requirement exemption at the time, namely the holders of passports issued by the Serbian Coordination Directorate in Belgrade.
On 16 November 2023, the Commission published a proposal to remove this exclusion by amending Regulation (EU) 2018/1806, thus enabling all citizens of the Western Balkan region to benefit from visa-free travel to the Schengen area.
