Brussels, 09/04/2008 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 9 April, EU ambassadors approved the contents of a negotiations mandate for an agreement with the US on the US Visa Waiver Program (VWP) - (EUROPE 9634). The negotiations brief is expected to be approved on Friday 18 April in Luxembourg during the meeting of EU ministers of the interior. The US, however, has already signed bilateral agreements with six member states: Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Hungary to get them to benefit from the VWP. Bilateral negotiations on implementation of the agreements are currently taking place. One diplomat said that the EU27 agreement on a common mandate will allow for the division between states that have signed bilateral agreements and the other countries to be reduced, even if divergences still persist. The ball is now in the court of the US, without which, future transatlantic negotiations will obviously not take place. (B.C.)