Brussels, 20/07/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 19 July, experts from the Commission's DG for Justice, Freedom and Security met the US Homeland Security representative, Daniel Sullivan, to seek to gain more information on the future American legislation regarding the “Visa Waiver Program” (VWP) soon to be discussed in Congress with a view to its forthcoming adoption. “It would be useful to have such meetings more often. We expect further information from them”, said a European source without entering into the details of the discussions. He went on to add: “We hope in particular that US officials will answer the letter recently sent by Commissioner Franco Frattini” to Michael Chertoff, US Secretary of Homeland Security. In his letter, Mr Frattini and the German minister of the interior, Wolfgang Schäuble, called for clarification on amendments relating to the proposal of legislation on the VWP (EUROPE 9381). They above all hoped they would be informed and consulted on plans set out for the ETA system, pointing out that the EU may also envisage the creation of a similar system (EUROPE 9471). The letter raises other questions relating to this legislation, mainly the repatriation of foreigners illegally present on US territory. Europeans state they are ready to envisage negotiations with a view to an EU-US re-entry agreement if the United States considers that the international laws in force are inadequate. Regarding the mechanism allowing information to be given on stolen or lost passports, Europeans consider that the work of Interpol along these lines is already sufficient and that no additional agreement is therefore needed. Finally, it appears that the flexibility of the rate of visa refusal applied to each country is linked to the introduction of an “entry/exit” system at the borders. Europeans therefore wonder when the United States really plans to put this flexibility into practice. (bc)