Brussels, 17/09/2007 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has sent a letter of formal notice to Canada, urging the country to make “tangible progress” to remove the visa obligation still in place for eight member states of the EU. Here follows a summary of what Commissioner Franco Frattini will report to the home affairs ministers of the EU on Tuesday 18 September, when they examine the third report on visa reciprocity.
The situations of non-reciprocity with certain countries of the EU in terms of visa exemptions has not fundamentally changed since the second report came out in October 2006 (EUROPE 9279). Canada: The Canadian government continues to demand visas for the citizens of eight countries - the Czech Republic, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Bulgaria and Romania (EUROPE 9388). Canada is believed to have clarified the procedures applicable in terms of exemptions. The Commission now hopes that a re-examination may take place in the near future for the states in question. In particular, it proposes that Ottawa lift the visa obligation for the citizens of one or more member states before the end of the year and make tangible progress towards reciprocity in the first six months of 2008. In the absence of this type of progress, “appropriate measures” may be considered towards Canada, according to a European source. The United States maintains a visa requirement for the nationals of 12 countries: Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Greece, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. Even though no tangible progress has been registered with regard to visa reciprocity with the United States, the Commission has welcomed reforms in its Visa Waiver Program (VWP) - (EUROPE 9500). The Commission therefore takes the view that it would be “inappropriate” to bring in reprisal measures against the United States at this stage, but has not ruled out this option if progress towards total visa reciprocity is not made “soon”. Australia: encouraging progress has been made: - access to statute “e676” by Bulgaria and Romania; - access by Cyprus, Lithuania and Hungary to the facilitated visa issuing mechanism, and the removal of visa charges for “e676” visas for trips of less than three months, starting in July 2007 (EUROPE 9462). The Commission also notes that the creation of the “eVisitors” system is making good progress, which will also facilitate equal treatment between the nationals of all member states for June 2008. It notes too that full reciprocity in terms of visa exemption already exists with Mexico and New Zealand for all member states and the states linked to the EU via the Schengen agreement. Procedures are currently underway with eight countries to achieve reciprocity: Brazil, Brunei, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Panama, Paraguay and Singapore. The next Commission report on visa reciprocity with third countries is due on 30 June 2008. (bc)