Brussels, 29/11/2013 (Agence Europe) - As announced a few days ago, the European Commission unveiled plans on Wednesday 27 November to scrap the visa requirement for Moldovan passport-holders for travel to the European Union, as long as they travel on biometric passports. José Manuel Barroso said on 15 November that Moldova meets all the requirements laid down in the special action plan and is therefore eligible for visa-free travel once the Council of Ministers and European Parliament have given the go-ahead. The Commission hopes that the green light will be given before the European elections. The number of Moldovans requesting visas has been between 50,000 and 60,000 a year for the past three years and the number of requests for short-term visas that are rejected has fallen from 11.4% in 2010 to 6.5% in 2012. (SP/transl.fl)