eu-com-schengen-coop

EUROPEAN UNION
DELEGATION TO THE REPUBLIC OF YEMEN
23/04/2014
LOCAL SCHENGEN COOPERATION (LSC) IN YEMEN
2013-2014 REPORT 100
1. Introduction
Five Schengen States are represented in Yemen (in the capital only) - France, Germany, Italy, the
Netherlands and Spain – out of which only the three first ones currently issue visas, including
Schengen visas. Since the beginning of the year, Germany has started issuing visas for Hungary
and, in exceptional cases, for Denmark. Overall, the three Schengen States also cover requests for
entry to Austria, Belgium, Greece, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Sweden (France), Portugal and
Hungary (Germany), Malta and Spain (Italy).
In 2013, France received the highest amount of applications (3744 applications, 3008 granted, 736
rejected), followed by Germany (2590 applications, 2526 granted, 64 rejected) and Italy (1313
applications, 1026 granted, 205 rejected).
Some Embassies have reduced their staff in 2013 to cope with a deteriorating security situation.
None of them currently use external service providers for the collection of visa applications, due in
particular to the high risk of corruption.
2. LSC meetings held in 2013-2014
LSC is addressed as part of bi-annual LSC and consular meetings, which are co-chaired by the EU
Delegation and a rotating Schengen State. The UK attends the second part of these meetings, which
focus on consular cooperation. Ad-hoc meetings are organised when the necessity arises, notably to
discuss new security trends or informally share views with like-minded partners, in particular the
US. The meetings are usually well attended, given the limited number of Schengen States present in
Yemen. Reports are drawn by the EU Delegation and shared by Member States with their capitals
when relevant. Schengen States also occasionally communicate with non-resident Schengen States
in the region, in particular Switzerland.
3. State of play
3.1 Application of the Visa Code
The Member States and the EU Delegation are relatively well prepared to ensure the tasks to be
carried out in LSC under the Visa Code, despite some discrepancies described below. The security
situation, which has led in some cases to a reduction of staff, has however had a clear impact on the
ability of Schengen States to respect the timeframes foreseen by the Visa Code.
100 April 2013 – March 2014
12893/14 PR/lm 204
DG D 1 A
EN