EU interior-ministry experts met in Brussels on May 4 for the first Visa Working Party session of the Belgian Presidency to focus on a new assessment framework for visa-exempt countries. Switzerland, as a Schengen-associate member, participated via the mixed committee format alongside Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. Delegates examined draft criteria for monitoring visa-free regimes—covering irregular migration, asylum trends and security cooperation—and reviewed a Commission paper on creating a common ‘white-list’ of verified companies eligible for accelerated Schengen business visas. The session also prepared Council positions for next month’s trilogues on the Digital Schengen Visa Regulation, which will replace visa stickers with secure QR codes from 2028. Swiss officials highlighted the country’s experience issuing fully digital national (D) visas since February 2026 and urged that any EU list of trusted companies be open to Swiss-registered multinationals to avoid competitive disadvantages. They also welcomed moves to repeal the 2024 suspension of certain EU-Ethiopia visa facilitation clauses, noting that Ethiopian nationals account for growing talent inflows in pharma and IT clusters around Basel and Zurich. For corporate mobility teams the meeting is a reminder that Schengen visa policy is set to become more data-driven, with real-time revocation triggers if irregular migration spikes. Companies that rely on short-term Schengen visas for project staff should monitor whether they qualify for the forthcoming ‘verified company’ fast-track and begin compiling compliance documentation. A follow-up Working Party is scheduled for 25 June, by which time the Council aims to finalise the assessment methodology.
Source: Council of the European Union
