A non-EU national staying in one of the member states on a long-stay visa will be allowed to travel to most other member states for three months in any six-month period under the same conditions as the holder of a residence permit, under a new regulation approved by Parliament.

The regulation is set to enter into force by 5 April 2010. This does not apply for the UK, Ireland and Denmark as a result of their opt-outs. The increased freedom of movement should not pose any extra security risk because of a system of controls and alerts, according to the European Parliament.

Under present Community law, long-stay visa holders – for example students or schoolchildren wanting to go on a study or field trip in another member state, scientists, academics, family members of third-country nationals and EU citizens – are not allowed to travel to other member states during their stay, nor pass through the other states when returning to their country of origin, as the Schengen Convention does not allow for this.

The fact that a student who is granted a visa to attend a course in Belgium cannot travel to a specialised library in the Netherlands to obtain information for the purposes of writing his thesis or to Barcelona for a weekend visit ‘is simply unacceptable’, argues Carlos Coelho, author of the report by the EP Civil Liberties Committee. ‘This is an example of how absurd situations can arise’, he states.

The UK and Ireland are not members of the Schengen area and will not be bound by or subject to the regulation. Denmark has a period of six months after the date of adoption of the regulation to decide whether it will enact it in its national law.