News Releases

No. 16/08
March 3, 2008

DECLARATION BY EUROPEAN COMMISSION VICE PRESIDENT FRANCO FRATTINI ON THE DECISION BY THE CANADIAN GOVERNMENT TO LIFT VISA REQUIREMENTS FOR 4 MEMBER STATES

"On behalf of all 27 Member States of the European Union I have worked hard and will continue to do so with Canada and other third countries, including the USA, in finding the best ways to promote international travel, mobility and exchanges whilst simultaneously providing security for these countries' citizens as well as for our own EU citizens.

"I very much welcome the decision by the Canadian government to lift visa requirements for citizens of four more Member States of the European Union, namely Poland, Hungary, Lithuania and Slovakia from 1 March 2008. This is tangible progress towards achieving full visa-free travel for all citizens of the European Union visiting Canada and will be reflected in the next Commission Report on visa reciprocity to be presented in June this year. We will continue working in close cooperation with the Canadian authorities to ensure the removal of visa requirements for those remaining Member States in line with the principle of visa reciprocity, which is indeed the cornerstone of our common European visa policy.

"The lifting of the visa requirements for another 4 Member States by Canada underpins once more that if the EU works collectively we can together yield better results."
 

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