EU sues Portugal over visas for Brazilians; breakdown of the situation.

In March this year, Portugal introduced a law that grants "automatic" residency to immigrants from CPLP (Commonwealth of Portuguese-speaking Countries) countries. And the process began in October. Thanks to these changes, people can stay in Portugal for up to one year upon request. The permit allows you to study, work and rent property in the country. The list of countries on the CPLP includes Brazil, Angola, Cape Verde, Equatorial Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Sao Tome and Principe, and East Timor.

There are, however, some questions about this visa program. The European Commission states that this program is only valid for Portugal and it is impermissible to use the CPLP visa for''travel to other countries in the bloc. Under the Schengen agreement, only 90 days of temporary tourist travel to European countries is allowed. The European Commission also claims that the visa issued by Portugal violates the Schengen agreement.

The Commission has given Portugal two months to provide a position on the issue.

What is the Schengen agreement?

This is an agreement made between the countries of the European Union to allow free movement between members. The agreement was signed in 1985 and since then free movement of people has been possible between the signatory countries''agreement. However, there are certain rules for people from other parts of the world, including CPLP countries, which include visa requirements, insurance, round-trip tickets and other documents.

In 1995, Portugal joined the Schengen agreement.

The President of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, said that Portugal's decision to issue visas to CPLP countries is not illegal. He said, "It cannot be allowed that due to chance an illegality is discovered that did not exist in the past." According to the Foreigners and Border Control Service (SET), since March, more than 154 thousand immigrants have requested authorization to reside in Portugal. 140,000 have already received documents, most of which have been requested''Brazilians.

Secretary of State for European Union Affairs Tiago Antunes

said the agreement will continue regardless of the issues that have arisen with the European Commission. "We were surprised by the start of the infration procedure by the European Commission. It is difficult for us to understand it," he told the Lusa news agency.