Brussels, 03/10/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 3 October, the European Parliament's civil liberties committee again decided to postpone its vote on updating visa requirements for nationals from third countries, due to last minute requests to include Peru, Colombia and the United Arab Emirates in the list of so-called “positive” countries, namely those that are not subject to visa requirements.
The report prepared by Mariya Gabriel (EPP, Romania) is expected to help scrap visa obligations for island countries in the Caribbean and Pacific such as the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palaos, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and the Solomon Islands. All British nationals residing outside the United Kingdom are also expected to be exempt from visa requirements. Southern Sudan is now included on the so-called “negative” list of countries subject to visa requirements. This report has already been postponed and will be subject to a vote in the next fortnight or month. Peru, Columbia and the United Arab Emirates will have to provide security guarantees concerning their nationals when they stay in the Schengen area (for a maximum period of three months) and a letter to them will be sent in this connection. Although the inclusion of Colombia and Peru is strongly advocated by countries like Spain, the method has not been totally appreciated by all MEPs. Louis Michel (EPP, Belgium) regretted, for example, that this report was in a way tarnished by “clientelism” and disorganised due to pressure from “lobbyists”. A vote by MEPs went in favour of Gabriel, and the draft will therefore be voted on at a later stage. (SP/transl.fl)