Brussels, 12/04/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 12 April, the European Commission said that suspending the visa waiver scheme with US and Canada would be counter-productive and damaging to European interests. It has thus taken a position against such a decision, although EU law invites this as these countries still demand visas from certain European nationals.
Under the principle of reciprocity, the visa waiver granted by the EU to Americans, Canadians and Bruneians should go hand in hand with a visa waiver for all Europeans wanting to visit these third countries. In practice, the US, Canada and Brunei continue to subject the nationals of certain member states to the requirement of a visa, the Commission noted. The Commission was due to make an assessment of the situation by 12 April at the latest (see EUROPE 11528).
This came about today. Meeting in Strasbourg, the college of commissioners adopted a communication that was sent to the Council of the EU and to the European Parliament. The Council and Parliament now have until 12 July to take a position on the best path to follow on the Commission's assessment. This is very clear - the EU would have more to lose than to gain by suspending these visa waiver schemes.
Analysing the consequences of suspending the schemes, the Commission has arrived at the following conclusions: - it would be very unlikely that the member states could handle the increased number of visa applications; - the air transport sector would be strongly impacted; - a significant blow would be brought to the EU's external relations with “two strategic partners” with whom the EU is negotiating trade agreements. European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship Dimitris Avramopoulos wanted to be reassuring, saying that total reciprocity of the visa waiver will continue to be a priority in bilateral relations with these countries, and that they would continue their efforts to reach a fair and just result. (Original version in French by Jan Kordys)