On Wednesday 21 December, the European Commission confirmed that it will not be imposing visas on American citizens wishing to travel in the Schengen zone and that it was therefore refusing to impose tit-for-tat measures on the United States over non-reciprocity in the matter of visas, even though it is required to do so under European law. The US continues to require Bulgarian, Romanian, Polish, Cypriot and Croatian nationals to hold visas and the Commission was theoretically supposed to launch a counter-attack in April of this year, by setting restrictions in place in turn.
Last week, during a debate on this subject at the plenary session of the European Parliament, the Commissioner for Home Affairs, Dimitris Avramopoulos, explained that the economic consequences for the EU and its tourism sector would be too high if this step were taken, but the Commissioner acknowledged that no progress had been made by the US over the last five months.
For Canada, on the other hand, the Commission reiterated in its report that both sides had agreed on a clear timetable to achieve a fully reciprocal visa exemption.
Following sustained and coordinated efforts and an ongoing commitment between the EU and Canada ahead of the 16th EU-Canada Summit, Canada submitted a clear timetable to bring in full reciprocity on visa exemptions for all EU citizens. The Commission will continue its work to ensure that by the end of 2017, Canada also brings in a fully reciprocal visa exemption for all Bulgarian and Romanian travellers.
As regards the United States, the forthcoming EU-United States "Justice and Home Affairs" meeting, to be held in the first half of 2017, will offer the next opportunity to work with the new administration to examine the best way to achieve this objective. In the view of some MEPs, however, the dossier may make no progress at all under the new Trump administration. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)