EU Parliament Imposes Visas for US Citizens Visiting Europe

EUROPE, 6 Mar 2017

Laura Smith-Spark - CNN

4 Mar 2017 – Members of the European Parliament have called for the European Commission to impose visas on US citizens visiting Europe amid an ongoing dispute over visa restrictions against five EU nations.

MEPs called on Washington to grant the same visa-free access to nationals of Bulgaria, Croatia, Poland, Romania and Cyprus as enjoyed by citizens of the other 23 EU nations. EU rules require equal treatment for all member states.

US citizens can currently visit all EU nations without a visa under the visa waiver program.

The resolution, approved by MEPs Thursday [2 Mar] by a show of hands, urges the Commission to adopt the necessary legal measures “within two months” but is non-binding, according to a European Parliament news release.

If applied, it would temporarily impose visa requirements on US travelers until full visa reciprocity is achieved. But EU nations would stand to lose out if tourism and business travel from the United States were impacted.

The European Commission has been working toward a resolution of the visa dispute.

A European Commission report published in December said the body was “using all opportunities to explore the way ahead and all options or necessary actions to be taken to achieve this objective.”

The report cited the US Department of Homeland Security as saying that the five EU nations concerned were not meeting requirements set out under US law on visa refusals, and so were not eligible to join the visa waiver program.

“The Department of Homeland Security also reiterated that temporarily suspending the visa waiver for U.S. citizens would be highly counterproductive to the achievement of a reciprocal visa waiver,” the report said.

The European Commission said it would relaunch its efforts “without delay” once US President Donald Trump’s administration was fully in place and noted that the US Congress would also have a central role to play in resolving the situation.

Canada also imposes visa requirements on Romanians and Bulgarians but they will be lifted from December this year.

Go to Original – cnn.com

 

Share this article:


DISCLAIMER: The statements, views and opinions expressed in pieces republished here are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of TMS. In accordance with title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. TMS has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is TMS endorsed or sponsored by the originator. “GO TO ORIGINAL” links are provided as a convenience to our readers and allow for verification of authenticity. However, as originating pages are often updated by their originating host sites, the versions posted may not match the versions our readers view when clicking the “GO TO ORIGINAL” links. This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.


Comments are closed.