PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Overseas Workers: EU Countries (1 February 2021)

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing a work visa that professionals can use to travel to the 27 EU states with one document.

Asked by:
Janet Daby (Labour)

There is no precedent in a Free Trade Agreement for EU Member States offering a single visa for work.

However, in the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), the UK and EU did agree a range of facilitations for those travelling temporarily for work (Mode 4). The commitments agreed between the UK and the EU guarantee market access to business travellers in a wide number of sectors, waive work-permits for a range of short-term business visits, and provide for a minimum standard for how service providers should be treated when working in the other Party. We have also agreed commitments that will make it easier for professionals engaged in cross-border trade to apply for visas.

Commitments in the Mode 4 chapter are in addition to the EU already having legislated to allow UK nationals to travel visa-free for short stays of up to 90 days in any 180-day period. This will allow UK nationals travelling to, and within, the Schengen Area to undertake a limited range of activities, such as tourism, or attending business meetings, or cultural and sports events.

Answered by:
Paul Scully (Conservative)
9 February 2021