By JAN SLIVA
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - Canada must move to lift visa requirements on new European Union member states or face possible retaliatory steps, the European Commission warned Monday.
In a statement, the EU executive called on Canada to allow at least one more EU country to enjoy visa-free travel by the end of the year and show tangible progress in abolishing the visa regime for the others in the first half of next year.
The statement was issued ahead of the release Tuesday of an official report on the dispute. The report, evaluating the visa reciprocity situation between the EU and third countries, will be presented to the interior ministers of the EU's 27 member states.
It said "appropriate steps could be proposed" if Canada drags its feet in changing the regime for the eight new EU members whose citizens still need visas to travel there. It does not specify what steps the EU or its individual member states could take.
The eight countries named in the report are Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.
Diplomats said the report would add political pressure on Canada but was unlikely to lead to reciprocal visa requirements for its citizens.
"Realistically, what measures can we take? We won't be able to agree on a visa regime for Canadians or any other measure. That would be counterproductive," a diplomat from a new member state said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because the commission's full report had not yet been made public.
The visa issue is sensitive in new EU member states such as the Czech Republic and Hungary, which feel their citizens are being denied unhindered access to Canada over unjustified immigration fears.
Canada has given Cyprus, Malta, Estonia and Slovenia the same visa-free treatment that western Europeans enjoy, but requires visas for visitors from the other eight new EU countries.
The commission said Canadian officials would visit four of the eight countries in November and four in February for technical talks.
It said it would monitor a new U.S. bill that would expand the United States' visa waiver program to more European countries. It warned that the EU could take retaliatory measures if the expected U.S. opening to the new members from eastern Europe is not implemented.
The current U.S. program allows citizens from most western European countries and some other parts of the world to enter the country without visas, but excludes many of the newer EU member states.
The visa-waiver program was created in 1988 and was originally focused on preventing illegal immigration into the country.
But since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the focus has shifted to security, and the program has been altered several times in hopes of strengthening the government's ability to detect and deter terrorists.
http://travel.canoe.ca/Travel/News/2007/09/17/4503664-ap.html
Topic: European Commission calls for visa-free travel to Canada for all EU states (Read 2220 times)