Revealed: UK holidaymakers travelling to Europe after Brexit face paying same £50 visa charge as visitors from Russia, China and Papua New Guinea (but tourists from dozens of countries including Venezuela and Ukraine visit for FREE)
- European Commission has drawn up plans to add Britain to a visa system
- Without a deal, it could mean Britons visiting Europe hit with £50 visa fees
- Britons are able to continue travelling freely in Europe until December 31, 2020
The EU could class the UK with Russia, China and Papua New Guinea by charging tourists £50 for visas after Brexit.
Under proposals drawn up in Brussels, British holidaymakers could be denied an exemption already granted to dozens of countries outside the bloc - including Venezeula and Ukraine.
The EU commission blueprint could mean travellers to the continent having to pay more than £50 for the right paperwork.
Brexiteers slammed the idea today as the latest example of Brussels being 'difficult' in negotiations - and urged Theresa May to 'swing her handbag' at a summit of leaders next week.
The EU has exemption deals for short-term visa with dozens of countries around the world. This map produced by the EU commission shows countries that are currently exempt in blue and green, and states that require visas in red. But Britain’s position could change after Brexit
The list is thought to have been drawn up by Martin Selmayr (right), the powerful aide to Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker (left) (file)
The visa proposal was contained in a document setting out a number of legal changes that need to be considered if there is no Brexit deal.
The finger of blame over the visa suggestion has been pointed at Martin Selmayr, a close associate of European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker.
Mr Selmayr, who is Brussels’ top mandarin and is suspected of pushing a hard-line stance on Brexit, used a strategy document to float the idea, warning that the bloc has to decide whether to force Britons to pay for entry permits.
That would put the UK in the same category as countries such as Russia, China, India, Bolivia and most of Africa.
The other option would be for the EU to list the UK as a ‘visa-free’ country, meaning that trips between Britain and Europe would remain similar to the present situation.
The US, Canada, Australia, most of South America, and Ukraine already benefit from visa exemption.
A decision to exempt the UK would mean that travellers could visit the bloc for 90 days over a 180-day period without documentation.
Mr Selmayr, who is leading no-deal preparations for the EU, outlined the possibility of the UK being subject to travel visas in a document shown to MEPs.
It said: ‘The proposal will amend the regulation to place the UK on either the visa-required list of third countries or the visa-free list.’
Mr Selmayr, the European Commission’s secretary general, who is referred to as ‘the monster’ by Mr Juncker, is known to oppose Brexit and has been accused of damaging leaks against Theresa May.
Formal talks on the issue have yet to start but any decision to hit the UK with visas will come in to play if no Brexit agreement is reached by March next year.
Imposing visas is seen as a 'nuclear option' given the reliance on travel and tourism between the UK and EU countries.
The documentation requirement could also kick-in when a transition deal ends in 2021, if a wider Brexit agreement on trade and other issues falls apart.
Even if the UK is given an exemption, Britons could still be charged £7 for entry permits under a separate EU plan that will come into force in 2020.
That scheme will apply to visa-free countries, with the electronic visas remaining valid for three years or until the passport used during the registration process expires. The UK is hoping to negotiate an exemption.
Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament’s Brexit coordinator, said a decision on visa exemption could be linked to a wider future relationship deal. ‘All third country nationals have to face visa requirements unless there’s an exemption,’ he said.
British officials pointed out that such a move would see the UK introduce a visa requirement for travellers from the EU to the UK.
Tory MP Peter Bone told MailOnline a visa exemption was the only reasonable approach.
'This is all part of the EU being intransigent in negotiations,' he said. 'They will realise that they have to give free visas otherwise what we will do is impose the same on them. It makes no sense at all.
'At every single stage they are trying to be difficult.
'I hope Mrs May goes to the summit and swings the handbag a bit, as Mrs Thatcher used to.'
Mr Juncker was in Dublin yesterday for talks with Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar (pictured)
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