Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister of State for Digital and Culture on 2 February (145005), with reference to the phrase "permanent short stay visa waiver for all current and future EU Member States", whether the term "permanent" was defined during the negotiations on the UK–EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement.

The EU’s proposal on a visa waiver was set out in their draft agreement, published in March 2020. Article MOBI.4(1) contained commitments on the provision of reciprocal visa free travel for short stays:

“1. The Parties shall provide for reciprocal visa-free travel for citizens of the Union and citizens of the United Kingdom when travelling to the territory of the other party for short stays of a maximum duration as defined in the Parties’ domestic legislation, which shall be at least 90 days in any 180-day period.”

This text is available on the Commission website at:

https://ec.europa.eu/info/publications/draft-text-agreement-new-partnership-united-kingdom_en

The commitment applies to ‘citizens of the Union’ and is not qualified by a date of expiry.