Free movement of third-country nationals in the European Union within the framework of Lisbon Treaty

This doctorate thesis provides a comprehensive analysis of the common rules on entry, short-stay and exit of third-country nationals travelling to Member States under EU?s common border and visa policy. Explaining the concept of free movement in EU law, it examines also free movement of EU citizens and third-country nationals legally residing in the territory of Member States and deals with the EU- Turkey Association law examining the impact of the recent developments taking place on the free movement rights of Turkish citizens. However, the main focus of the study restd on the European common border security policy and visa regime having primary regard to substantive EU law provisions. In this regard the study examines the provisions of the Schengen Borders Code which sets out common standards of the checks on crossing external borders of the EU; the establishment, functioning and control safeguards of Schengen Information System (SIS) and SIS (II) while questioning the available legal remedies for third-country nationals; main functions and tasks of European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union (FRONTEX) and rapid intervention teams; two main mechanisms of the current EU visa regime: Visa Code which regulates the procedures and conditions of issue for Schengen visas and Visa Information System (VIS) which stores the personal information and biometric identifiers of visa applicants. The study concludes with an analysis of EU?s common return policy of third country nationals overstaying in the territory of Member States.