Britons may require visas to travel throughout continental Europe once the UK leaves the EU, it has been reported. A visa program similar to the US waiver system is apparently being debated by the executive body of the EU, The Guardian reported. Currently, British passport holders can travel throughout the 26-nation passport-free Schengen zone without having to apply for short-term visas. But Britain’s decision to leave the EU has now left questions over the criteria needed for UK citizens to visit the Schengen zone. The European Commission will unveil draft EU travel legislation later this year, ITV News reported. The scheme would cover all visitors to the Schengen zone from countries that do not need a visa to enter. Camino Mortera-Martinez, a research fellow specializing in justice and home affairs at the Center for European Reform, was quoted as saying that UK citizens “as third-country nationals would certainly be subject to the obligations (of such a scheme)”. “Britain is a neighboring country, it is a safe country; this would be very bad for business … The two are not remotely connected but after Brexit, Britain will be a third country like Turkey,” she added.
