On Tuesday 30 May, the committee on civil liberties (LIBE) of the European Parliament decided to continue its actions on visa reciprocity with the United States. Contrary to the recommendations of the coordinators, the committee has taken the initiative of requesting the opinion of the committee on legal affairs (JURI) to look at possible areas for action against the European Commission. The resolution calling for the letter not to be sent to the JURI committee was rejected by 33 votes to 21.
Under the European visa regulation, the European Commission is theoretically required to impose countermeasures, such as the temporary suspension of visa liberalisation, on countries that fail to respect reciprocity. This is the case with the US, which demands visas for certain EU nationals, namely Bulgarians, Croatians, Cypriots, Poles and Romanians. On 2 May, however, the Commission reiterated its refusal to act (see EUROPE 11779), stressing that it is in constant touch with the American administration to seek an agreement and highlighting the economic consequences of bringing back visas for American citizens.
The JURI committee must now say whether the Commission, in refusing to act, has broken European law. If it has, it may make a recommendation to the President of the European Parliament to start legal proceedings against the Commission before the Court of Justice, a Parliament source explained. However, the Parliament's President may also consult the plenary, which may decide to overturn the decision of the JURI committee.
In any case, the Commission has taken note of this vote of the LIBE committee, Natasha Bertaud, spokesperson to Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos, said on Tuesday lunchtime. This matter has already been discussed four times and the College will discuss it again before the end of the year, she added, stressing that the Commission was doing all in its power to find a solution. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)