Brussels, 14/04/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 13 April, Brunei announced that it was lifting its visa requirement for Croatian nationals.
This decision follows the European Commission's political communication of Tuesday 12 April about the non-reciprocity of visa exemptions with the USA, Canada and Brunei, and the threat of a possible EU decision to suspend visa exemption regimes with these three third countries (see EUROPE 11530).
The decision of the Bruneian authorities was warmly welcomed by the Commission, despite it being no real surprise. The Bruneian authorities had in fact already decided to grant a visa-waiver regime for Croatian nationals but had simply delayed in implementing their decision. They had already assured the Commission on 6 April that they would do this within a few weeks.
The Commission considers that a decision to suspend the visa exemption regime with these countries would be counterproductive. The Council of the EU and European Parliament now have until 12 July to object to the suspension of these regimes with the USA and Canada. (Original version in French by Maëlle Didion)