Communication: State of play and the possible ways forward as regards the situation of non-reciprocity with certain third countries in the area of visa policy

On 12 April 2016, the Commission presented a Communication on the state of play and the possible way forward as regards the situation of non-reciprocity with certain third countries in the area of visa policy. It described the state of play with the third countries concerned and recalled that the visa reciprocity mechanism envisages that if the third country concerned has not lifted the visa requirement by 12 April 2016, Council Regulation (EC) No 539/2001 of 15 March 2001 as amended by Regulation (EU) No 1289/2013 of 11 December 2013 obliges the Commission to adopt a delegated act suspending for 12 months of the visa waiver for nationals of that third country. The Regulation also requires that the Commission takes into account the consequences of the suspension of the visa waiver for the external relations of the EU and its Member States. The Communication concluded that with three third countries - Brunei, Canada and the United States - full visa reciprocity had not been achieved by 12 April 2016 and that work should continue to achieve it.

In line with the Better Regulation guidelines, the Commission assessed the consequences and impacts of the suspension of visa waiver and concluded that in addition to the impact on EU citizens and the difficulties in implementation, significant impacts in a wide range of policy areas/sectors should also be considered, notably the impact on the European Union's external relations with Canada and the United States in a year where important agreements in the trade area are at a crucial stage or should be finalised. It also concluded that it is reasonable to expect a decrease in the number of travellers from Canada and the United States, and that this would lead to a considerable economic loss for the EU without achieving the objective of full visa reciprocity for all EU citizens.

The Commission invited the European Parliament and the Council to urgently launch discussions and to take a position not later than 12 July 2016 on the most appropriate way forward in the light of the assessment of the consequences of the suspension of the visa waiver provided in the April Communication. The present Communication takes stock of the progress achieved since the adoption of the April Communication in discussions with Canada and the United States, reports on the positions taken in response to the Communication and sets out the next steps.

ESO: Background information: Visa reciprocity with US and Canada: Commission takes stock of latest developments http://www.europeansources.info/record/visa-reciprocity-with-us-and-canada-commission-takes-stock-of-latest-developments/

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