Annexes to COM(2017)227 - Defining the position of the Commission following Parliament's resolution on obligations of the EC in the field of visa reciprocity and reporting progress achieved - Main contents
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This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2017)227 - Defining the position of the Commission following Parliament's resolution on obligations of the EC in the field of visa ... |
|---|---|
| document | COM(2017)227  |
| date | May 2, 2017 |
In the coming weeks, the Commission in close cooperation with the five Member States concerned will work with the United States on the consolidation of a way forward, to be endorsed in a Joint Statement by the EU-U.S. Justice and Home Affairs Ministerial Meeting in June 2017. High-level contacts and meetings, e.g. the NATO Summit and the G7 Summit in May, the EU-U.S. Justice and Home Affairs Ministerial Meeting in June, the G20 Summit in July and the Justice and Home Affairs Senior Officials' Meeting in September will provide the opportunities and occasions to ensure progress.
IV. Conclusion
The Commission remains committed to achieving full visa reciprocity for all Member States as a matter of priority.
The Commission welcomes the fact that, in line with its commitment, on 1 May 2017 Canada lifted the visa requirement for Bulgarian and Romanian citizens who have held a Canadian temporary resident visa in the past 10 years or who currently hold a valid United States non-
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Among others, at the tripartite meeting, the United States presented visa refusal statistics for 2016: Bulgaria: 16.86% (2015:17.26%); Croatia: 6.78% (2015: 5.29%); Cyprus: 2.03% (2015: 3.53%); Poland: 5.37% (2015: 6.37%); Romania: 11.43% (2015: 11.16%). While Cyprus complied with the 3% visa refusal rate requirement, the United States signalled that they are looking the totality of all relevant circumstances and the division of the island remains a particular challenge. PCSC Agreement on enhancing law enforcement cooperation in order to prevent and combat serious
immigrant visa. The Commission will continue to engage with Bulgaria, Romania and Canada, to ensure that the 1 December 2017 deadline for achieving full visa reciprocity will also be met.
As regards the United States, the Commission notes the result-oriented process that has been launched. The Commission considers that this process, which the Commission is handling in close cooperation with the five Member States concerned, is as things stand, the most appropriate way forward. This will accelerate progress if all parties are committed to this process and work constructively. In this context, it is essential to ensure that the European Union speaks with one voice on this important matter.
The Commission therefore considers, in particular in view of the progress achieved during the last year and the ongoing work, that the adoption of a delegated act temporarily suspending the exemption from the visa requirement for nationals of Canada and the United States would be counterproductive at this moment and it would not serve to achieve the objective of visa-free travel for all EU citizens.
The Commission will continue to work closely with both the European Parliament and the Council to achieve full visa reciprocity and report on the further developments before the end of December 2017.