The European Parliament civil liberties committee expressed its exasperation in Strasbourg on Monday evening 15 January at the United States’ continuing visa requirement for nationals from five European Union member states (Cyprus, Bulgaria, Romania, Poland and Croatia) and called on the European Commission to take positive steps to have the requirement lifted (see EUROPE 11931).
At the end of 2017, Canada lifted the restrictions it imposed on a number of member states, leaving only the situation with the US to be addressed. On Monday, several MEPs highlighted the unpredictable nature of American President Donald Trump as a difficulty and expressed concern at his latest alleged comments on “shithole” countries.
However, imposing visa requirements on US citizens visiting the EU is not a solution, in the view of a number of MEPs, such as Agustin Diaz de Mera (EPP, Spain), who urged the Commission to continue to work to have the restrictions removed.
The European Commission itself refuses still to adopt a delegated act, as the rules require it do in cases of breaches of visa reciprocity with third countries. It stuck to that line on Monday evening, stressing the harmful economic impact of such a measure.
Tripartite meetings are scheduled for Brussels at the end of January then in Washington in the spring and the Commission is hopeful that the requirements will be lifted, though it has not given any precise timetable for this.
Sophie in’t Veld (ALDE, Netherlands) was not impressed by what she heard and she also called on the European Parliament to look hard at itself. In her view, Parliament could certainly have called the Commission into question for failing to comply with its legal obligations. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)