Progress expected in coming months over US visas

The European Commission is confident that progress will be made in the coming months with the United States over the issue of non-visa reciprocity with the new member states, including Malta.

Speaking in Brussels following the publication of the Commission's Third Report On Certain Third Countries Maintenance Of Visa Requirements, European Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini welcomed new EU legislative measures to modernise its visa waiver programme.

Mr Frattini said, however, that not all elements were fully worked out. The Commission would be monitoring the implementation of such elements and the consequences for the EU and its member states. He ruled out, for the time being, counter measures by the EU against the US such as the introduction of a visa requirement for American citizens entering the EU. Some member states have been asking the EU to move in that direction but Brussels has cautioned against it.

A government source said that through recent changes in US legislation, Malta should be among the first member states to be allowed into the US visa waiver programme. This is mainly attributed to the low level of refusal of visas issued by the US Embassy in Malta.

However, there is still no fixed timeframe on the part of the Americans to move on the matter.

More than three years after the last EU enlargement, the US is still refusing to lift the visa requirement on citizens from nine new member states, with the exception of Slovenia. The US insists that the new member states do not fulfill all criteria imposed by the US Congress. The new member states involved disagree. Greece is the only old member state still being excluded.