20.5.2014 Official Journal of the European Union L 149/67 REGULATION (EU) No 509/2014 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 15 May 2014 amending Council Regulation (EC) No 539/2001 listing the third countries whose nationals must be in possession of visas when crossing the external borders and those whose nationals are exempt from that requirement THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular point (a) of Article 77(2) thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission, After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments, Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure (1), Whereas: (1) Since 2001, the determination of the third countries whose nationals are subject to, or exempt from, the visa requirement has been made on the basis of the criteria laid down in recital 5 of Council Regulation (EC) No 539/2001 (3. The evolving nature of the Union visa policy and the increased need to ensure more coherence between visa policy and other Union policies justify that some additional criteria be taken into account when reviewing the lists of third countries in Annexes I and II to Regulation (EC) No 539/2001. (2)  The determination of the third countries whose nationals are subject to, or exempt from, the visa requirement should be made on the basis of a considered, case-by-case assessment. This assessment should be made periodically and could lead to legislative proposals to amend the Annexes to Regulation (EC) No 539/2001, notwithstanding the possibility of having country-specific amendments to those Annexes in particular circumstances, for instance as a result of a visa liberalisation process or as the ultimate consequence of a temporary suspension of the visa exemption. (3)  The composition of the lists of third countries in Annexes I and II to Regulation (EC) No 539/2001 should be, and should remain, consistent with the criteria set out in this Regulation. References to third countries in respect of which the situation has changed as regards those criteria should be transferred from one Annex to the other. 4) The imposition of the visa requirement on the nationals of Dominica, Grenada, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, the United Arab Emirates and Vanuatu is no longer justified. Those countries do not present any risk of illegal immigration or a threat to public policy and security for the Union in accordance with the criteria set out in this Regulation. Consequently, nationals of those countries should be exempt from the visa requirement for stays of no more than 90 days in any 180-day period, and references to those countries should be transferred to Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 539/2001. (5)  The Commission should further assess the situation of Colombia and Peru with regard to the criteria set out in this Regulation before the opening of negotiations on bilateral agreements on visa waiver between the Union and those countries. (6) Exemption from the visa requirement for nationals of Colombia, Dominica, Grenada, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Peru, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor- Leste, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, the United Arab Emirates and Vanuatu should not come into force until bilateral agreements on visa waiver between the Union and the countries concerned have been concluded in order to ensure full reciprocity. (7)  Statistical data show that the groups of British citizens currently listed in Part 3 of Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 539/2001 do not pose a risk in terms of irregular migration to the Schengen Area and that most of them live in (1) Position of the European Parliament of 27 February 2014 (not yet published in the Official Journal) and decision of the Council of 6 May 2014. (%) Council Regulation (EC) No 539/2001 of 15 March 2001 listing the third countries whose nationals must be in possession of visas when crossing the external borders and those whose nationals are exempt from that requirement (O] L 81, 21.3.2001, p. 1).