ANYONE travelling
on an American passport
could soon find themselves
with fewer options of
destinations to visit without
a visa. The European
Parliament recently voted
to end visa-free travel to
the EU for all US passport
holders should the US not
grant access to citizens of
Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus,
Poland and Romania.
However, the European
Commission (EC) will not
impose the visa requirement
as yet. An official from the
French Embassy told TNW
that the vote was merely a
request for the EC to assess
the issue. “The resolution
adopted by the European
Parliament is not binding
and the EC plans to continue
the negotiations with the
American authorities and
to make a report on their
evolution by June.”
Should the Commission’s
intent towards US passport
holders be realised, it could
also affect Schengen states
that aren’t members of the
EU. Travel to Switzerland,
according to spokesperson
of the Swiss State
Secretariat for Migration,
Lukas Rieder, would, for
example, be affected since
it is “an associate member
of Schengen and would
implement such a decision
as well”. He adds that
systematic border controls
are only carried out at the
external Schengen borders
and not between Switzerland
and its surrounding
Schengen countries.
In 2014, five countries
were identified as not
meeting their obligations
in terms of a reciprocity
agreement with the EU,
namely Australia, Brunei,
Canada, Japan and the US.
Since then Australia, Brunei
and Japan have lifted their
visa requirements for all
EU citizens, with Canada
to follow suit by the end of
the year.
