Franco Frattini

No. 04/06
January 17, 2006

EU REPORT CONCLUDES POSITIVE DIALOGUE BUT NO TANGIBLE PROGRESS ON VISA WAIVER RECIPROCITY WITH US

On Friday, January 13, European Commission Vice President Frattini, Commissioner responsible for Freedom, Security and Justice, presented on behalf of the European Union a first report on visa waiver reciprocity to the EU's Justice and Home Affairs Council. It concludes that with the United States, whilst the opening of a dialogue is encouraging, no tangible progress exists at present towards visa exemption for 10 of the 25 Member States. The Commission believes a more result-oriented approach is now called for with clear benchmarks leading to the inclusion of all EU25 countries in the visa-waiver program. This report is a key element of the new visa reciprocity mechanism.

Essentially the report:

• Recalls the content and the effect of the reciprocity mechanism, as well as the procedural steps provided by Regulation EC No 851/2005;

• Explains the notifications concerning the non-reciprocity situations: 18 Member States notified in total 75 cases of non-reciprocity with regard to 13 third countries. The notifications refer to real visa requirements but also to the period of allowed stay – less than 90 days - under a visa waiver (18 cases) or to special entry formalities (4 cases);

• Describes the demarches of the Commission towards third countries and their results;

• For the United States, Australia and Canada the opening of a dialogue is encouraging but there is no tangible progress for the moment towards visa exemption. The Commission believes that the dialogue must continue in a more result-oriented way. A transparent process with clear benchmarks should be established that leads to a visa waiver for the citizens of all Member States;

• For 4 countries (Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama and Venezuela) the visa exemption for 90 days is now granted to citizens of all Member States. For Brazil the legal solution is announced (conclusion of a visa-waiver agreement with the EU) and needs to be formalized;

• For 4 other third countries (Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, Singapore and Uruguay) the solution is at sight but the implementation needs to be ensured during the following months.

In the conclusion of the report, the Commission considers that, in view of the progress achieved, there is no need at this stage to propose any temporary measures (such as the introduction of the visa obligation for the nationals of the third countries concerned). It is necessary to continue the dialogue in a more result-oriented way and to pursue the efforts taken in order to ensure that all third countries of the positive list waive the visa requirement for citizens of all Member States.

The Commission will present a new report in July 2006 on the persisting non-reciprocity cases and on the results of its continued dialogue with the third countries concerned. That second report could be accompanied by proposals for temporary measures.

Background

The US Visa Waiver Program (VWP) currently allows nationals from only 15 of the 25 EU Member States to enter the US as temporary visitors for business or leisure without first obtaining a visa from a US consulate abroad. Nationals from the Czech Republic, Greece, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland and Slovakia must still obtain a visa to enter the United States, although all these states grant visa-free travel to US citizens.

The issue of visa reciprocity is of great importance to the EU/US relationship. It has been on the agenda of EU-US meetings at all levels including the EU/US Summit. All EU Member States currently exempt US citizens from visa requirements, also those not enjoying reciprocal privileges.

A full text of the Commission Report is available at: http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/site/en/com/2006/com2006_0003en01.pdf

Further Contact Information
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