EU Parliament votes to impose visas for US citizens
Given that the citizens of five EU states, including Romania, require visas to enter the US, the European Union may introduce a similar requirement for American citizens
Florentin Căpitănescu, 03.03.2017, 13:34
One more proof that relations between the European Union and the US have become more complicated after Republican president Donald Trump took office, the European Parliament has passed a resolution seeking to reintroduce visas for American citizens travelling to the EU. The reason for this, which goes back a long time but has been overlooked during the previous Democratic administration of Barack Obama, is that the US still requires entry visas for the citizens of five EU member states, namely Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Poland and Cyprus.
The resolution, drafted by the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, sets a two-month deadline for the European Commission to act. Under EU legislation, if a country fails to respect the principle of visa reciprocity, the EU Commission must adopt a “delegated act” suspending the visa waiver for the nationals of the respective country for 12 months. The elimination of visas for all EU citizens was one of the main issues discussed by the European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship Dimitris Avramopoulos during a recent trip to Washington. He said that according to an assessment conducted by the European Commission, reinstating visas for US citizens would have negative impacts on the EU’s economy, in particular tourism and trade. Avramopoulos said, however, that the issue could be solved through diplomatic channels, as has been the case in a similar situation involving Canada.
The ratification of the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) was preceded, among others, by extended talks on the elimination of entry visas for Romania and Bulgaria, the only two countries in the EU whose citizens still needed visas to travel to Canada. As a result, visa requirements for Romanians and Bulgarians will be dropped as of December 1st this year. It is estimated that, as the EU-Canada trade agreement comes into effect, trade relations between Canada and the European Union will expand significantly.
The Union’s exports to Canada are expected to grow to 17 billion euros per year, leading to an increase in the EU’s GDP to more than 11 billion a year. The fact that such a significant trade agreement was made conditional on the settlement of the visa question shows the importance given by the EU to this aspect. On the other hand, it sets a precedent in the run-up to the negotiations on the huge trade agreement between the EU and the United States, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). (Translated by C. Mateescu)
