Visas: facilitating procedures for members of the Olympic family taking part in the 2004 Games in Athens

PURPOSE : to introduce specific provisions on visas for the Olympic family for the duration of the 2004 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Athens. CONTENT : the provision introduced by this Regulation involve a temporary derogation from certain provisions of the Schengen acquis concerning the procedures for applying for and issuing visas for members of the Olympic family. Apart from these specific provisions the relevant provisions of the Schengen acquis remain in force. A visa may be issued only where the person concerned: - has been designated by one of the responsible organisations and accredited by the Organising Committee of the 2004 Olympic Games and/or Paralympic Games; - holds a valid travel document authorising the crossing of external borders; - has not been identified for non-admission; - is not deemed liable to undermine public order, national security or the international relations of one of the Member States. If the person concerned does not meet the latter two conditions, the services responsible for issuing visas may issue a visa with limited territorial validity. The visa issued will be a uniform short-stay, multiple entry visa authorising a stay of 90 days for the duration of the Games. There are provisions filing the application and the form of the visas as well as for cancellation of a visa. The processing and issuing of the visas will not give rise to any fees being charged by the services responsible for issuing the visa. Based on information transmitted by Greece, the Commission will assess the functioning of the derogation and inform the Council and the European Parliament. �