Brussels, 06/03/2007 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission welcomes the recent adoption by the US Senate of an amendment that should facilitate extension of the Visa Waiver Programme (VWP) to the 12 EU states to which it does not yet apply. “This vote is very good news”, Friso Roscam-Abbing, a Commission spokesman, told EUROPE on Monday. He points out, however, that this is only a first stage given the fact that the amendment completes a law on US homeland security that has still to be adopted by the House of Representatives and President George W. Bush.
Created in 1986, the VWP allows most EU citizens to enter the United States and to stay there for a maximum of 90 days, without first of all having to obtain a visa from a US Consulate. The 15 “older” member states, except Greece, are part of the programme. The states that became members of the EU in 2004 (except Slovenia), as well as Romania and Bulgaria are not yet part of it (EUROPE 9279). In all, 15 EU countries are already in the programme that has a total of 27 members. To put it clearly, it is not enough to be a member of the European Union to be eligible when it is a matter of US homeland security. With the adoption on 28 February of the amendment put forward by Democrat Diane Feinstein, the Senate above all pointed out that states could qualify for the VWP if they have a less than 10% refusal rate on US visa applications by their nationals (compared to the current 3%). Latvia currently has a refusal rate of 20% like Poland, Romania and Lithuania, the other VWP candidates. The current visa refusal rate for Slovakia is 15%. Of the nine EU countries (except Cyprus) appearing on the VWP roadmap, only five EU countries already have a refusal rate below 10% and would therefore be “eligible to participate in the programme provided they pass the security requirements this bill imposes”, Ms Feinstein said. Hungary, with a refusal rate of between 2 and 3% would therefore qualify immediately. Another Senate requirement stipulates that the number of persons remaining in the United States after expiry of their visa should not exceed a given percentage to be fixed by the US authorities. Security criteria were also accepted such as the placing of police officers on board aircraft and alignment with biometric standards for passports. During his visit to Washington last November, Commissioner Franco Frattini had again called on US authorities to make serious progress in visa reciprocity, brandishing the threat of possible retaliatory measures. The Commission intends to present a new report on visa reciprocity by the end of March.
Although the United States is reticent about extending the system to other countries, given the terrorist-related risks and the risk of illegal immigration, the US president has nonetheless turned a corner in his policy. In December he called for greater flexibility in Congress in order to extend the programme. To justify this change, he stressed the “deep concern” felt by the countries fighting in Iraq alongside the Americans, as their citizens are not authorised to travel to the United States as freely as they would like. Evoking the process underway in the United States, Slovakian Foreign Minister Jan Kubis, said last week that an agreement would be reached within one or two years. He takes the view that the countries wanting to take part in this programme should continue to apply pressure on the US Congress. He reminded the Bush Administration of the importance of this dossier. In 2005, 15.8 million foreign travellers entered the United States under the VWP, accounting for 56% of foreign visitors. (bc)