Brussels, 20/04/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 20 April, MEPs in the European Parliament's civil liberties committee said the European Commission should respect current legislation and temporarily require visas for US and Canadian nationals wanting to enter the Schengen area.
The MEPs were responding to the Commission's communication of 12 April which called on both the European Parliament and the Council to take a position on the decision to be taken on the restrictions laid down by the USA and Canada on five EU member states (Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, Cyprus and Croatia), whose nationals must have visas to be able to enter the USA and Canada (EUROPE 11530).
A majority of the MEPs took a position in favour of adopting a delegated act by 12 July, temporarily suspending the visa-waiver regimes for these two countries for a year so as to have full reciprocity on visas. In the view of these MEPs, the Commission must respect the visa regulation of 2001 which provides for this suspension - with the Parliament and Council still then being able to reject this delegated act. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)