The European Parliament has today called on the Commission to fulfil its obligations to produce a long overdue delegated act that would temporarily remove the visa waiver for US citizens travelling to the EU. Given the US is not respecting the reciprocity clause as the country still has visa obligations for citizens of five Member States, the Commission must within the next two months adopt the necessary legal measures.
ALDE group vice-president and ALDE shadow rapporteur Filiz Hyusmenova (Movement for Rights and Freedom, Bulgaria): “This Resolution is proof of the European Parliament’s consistent and unchanged position on visa reciprocity. We believe that it is unacceptable for the European Commission, the guardian of application of EU law by Member States, is avoiding fulfilling its own legal obligations. In addition, the lack of visa reciprocity affects at least 14% of EU citizens, namely the citizens of Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Cyprus and Poland as well as some EU citizens with dual nationality”.
“It is high time for the Commission to show administrative will and political strength, not only for defending those citizens’ rights, but also for reinforcing the strength and unity of the European Union on the international scene”.
