I. INTRODUCTION

This Communication presents the main developments since December 2020 with regard to the situation of visa reciprocity with the U.S. It follows up on the political commitment expressed in the latest Communication, in which the Commission committed to keep the European Parliament and the Council abreast by reporting on further developments in this area by December 2021.

Visa waiver reciprocity is a principle of the EU's common visa policy and an objective, which the Union should pursue in a proactive manner in its relations with third countries, thus

contributing to improving the credibility and consistency of the Union's external relations.

Such a principle means that the EU, when deciding on lifting the visa requirement for citizens

of a third country, takes into consideration whether that third country reciprocally grants visa

waiver to nationals of all Member States.

In 2014, the Commission received notifications of non-reciprocity situations from five Member States: Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Poland and Romania. These notifications related to Canada, the U.S., Australia, Brunei and Japan.

On 12 April 2016, the Commission presented a Communication on the state of play and possible ways forward as regard the situation of non-reciprocity with certain third countries in the area of visa policy. The Communication noted that, with the active support of the Commission, the vast majority of the non-reciprocity cases notified as regard third countries had all been resolved. At the time of adoption of this Communication, a situation of non-reciprocity relates to the U.S., as citizens of Bulgaria, Cyprus and Romania are still required to be in possession of a visa when travelling to the U.S.

The April 2016 Communication assessed the consequences and impact of the suspension of the visa waiver for EU citizens and businesses as well as nationals of the third countries concerned and invited the European Parliament and the Council to discuss the most appropriate way forward. The Commission subsequently presented seven follow-up Communications: in July and December 2016, in May and December 2017, in December 2018 , and in March and December 2020, providing an overview of the outreach by the Commission and relevant developments, as well as an assessment of the consequences of a potential suspension. The latest Communication also defined the position of the Commission following the European Parliament resolution of 22 October 2020 on obligations of the Commission in the field of visa reciprocity related to the call presented in that resolution for the Commission to adopt a delegated act pursuant to Article 7 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1806 and reported on the progress achieved. The European Parliament nevertheless referred the Commission to the Court of Justice of the EU by bringing an action for failure to act under Article 265 TFEU on 4 March 2021 and the procedure is pending.

II. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

1.Overview of contacts and their follow-up

Since the last Communication, the issue of visa reciprocity was addressed in all relevant meetings and videoconferences between the Union and the U.S. It was, most notably, on the agenda of the regular EU-U.S. Justice and Home Affairs Ministerial meetings, which were held on 21-22 June 2021 and 16 December 2021. It was also discussed at the EU-U.S. Justice and Home Affairs Senior Officials’ meetings on 14-15 April 2021 and 20 September 2021, and in the tripartite meetings (held between the Commission, the U.S. and the Member States concerned) on 9-10 June 2021 and 8 December 2021.

High-level contacts: Vigorous political engagement intensified with the new U.S. administration. Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson used her first videoconference meeting with the then newly appointed Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, on 23 February 2021, to underline the importance of achieving full visa-waiver reciprocity and of cooperating closely to achieve progress towards this goal.

Following that meeting, Commissioner Johansson organised a series of meetings, in February and March 2021, with ministers from the four Member States concerned (relevant Ministers of Foreign Affairs and/or Interior) to discuss a way forward towards achieving full visa reciprocity with the U.S. At the respective meetings, Ministers reiterated their overall commitment to working jointly in a constructive and positive spirit, in close coordination with the Commission and the U.S., to achieve full visa reciprocity as soon as possible.

The importance of the issue of visa-waived travel was highlighted at the highest political level at the first EU-U.S. summit under the new U.S. administration that took place on 15 June 2021, with the participation of the new U.S. President Joe Biden, the President of the European Council Charles Michel, and the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen. In the joint summit statement, the two sides “welcome progress made by the U.S. and the EU towards additional EU Member States meeting the requirements necessary for visa free travel to the U.S. and intend to continue our dialogue towards visa waiver travel”.

Tripartite meeting (June 2021): A tripartite videoconference meeting, dedicated to the issue of visa reciprocity, took place on 9-10 June 2021. It brought together representatives from the U.S., the Commission and the Member States concerned – Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus and Romania. The participants discussed progress on outstanding U.S. Visa Waiver Program security requirements and on visa refusal rates. During this meeting, all sides underlined their commitment to an active engagement to achieve visa-waiver reciprocity.

Regarding the security requirements, during the tripartite meeting another round of discussions took place on the tailored work-plans provided by the U.S. authorities to each of the Member States concerned. All Member States were able to demonstrate further progress on a range of work-strands. Nevertheless, some more holistic issues remain to be further addressed. The need to enhance the integrity of national passport issuing systems was raised again by the U.S. authorities, to a different degree, for each of the Member States concerned. Areas of particular concern included: the existence of investor schemes offering expedited ways to citizenship, cases of fraud in the passport offices, various issues with biometric management, and in cases of corruption in the public sector.

As part of the tripartite meeting, the Commission services delivered a presentation on the Schengen evaluation mechanism, in order to raise the U.S. authorities’ awareness of the existence of EU rules and control mechanisms in that area. It was also an occasion to explain the question of whether a Member State fully applies the Schengen acquis and why the Schengen evaluations should be seen as separate from the visa-reciprocity debate.

As an outcome of the meeting, all Member States concerned committed to continue addressing the suggested actions from the work-plans. The U.S. committed to refining the respective work-plans, if need be, in light of actions already taken.

High-level contacts continued with a visit of Commissioner Johansson to Washington D.C. on 27 August 2021 and 2 September 2021, where a series of meetings were held, notably with the Secretary of Department of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas and with Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights at Department of State Uzra Zeya. During the meetings, the need to achieve full visa reciprocity was reiterated and progress reviewed.

EU-U.S. Justice and Home Affairs Ministerial meeting (June 2021): At the EU-U.S. Justice and Home Affairs Ministerial meeting held on 21-22 June 2021 in Lisbon, Portugal, both the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union and the Commission reiterated the importance of extending the U.S. Visa Waiver Program to all EU Member States. While recalling the progress made, it was stressed that securing visa waivers for the remaining Member States remains a political priority for both sides. The joint statement issued after the Ministerial meeting states that “the United States and the European Union welcomed the progress made by the four EU Member States that have not yet been designated to the Visa Waiver Program and reiterated their willingness to pursue ongoing efforts in the context of the tripartite process and bilateral discussions”. In addition, Vice-President Schinas and Commissioner Johansson also raised the issue in bilateral meetings with Secretary of Department of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas that took place in the margins of the Ministerial meeting.

Tripartite meeting (December 2021): Another round of tripartite meeting took place on 8 December via videoconference, bringing together representatives from the U.S., the Commission and the Member States concerned. Following its entry into the Visa Waiver Program, Croatia was invited to share lessons learned, underlining in particular the usefulness of the bespoke work-plans provided by the U.S. authorities as a roadmap for progress. Regarding the outstanding U.S. Visa Waiver Program security requirements, the remaining three Member States were all able to demonstrate further progress on a range of work-strands from their respective work-plans. Nevertheless, some outstanding more holistic issues remained. In order to reflect progress made, the U.S. authorities invited the three Member States to provide updated replies to the U.S. questionnaire, as this will allow the U.S. to re-evaluate the work-plans and identify targeted areas where progress is still needed in order to comply with the U.S. Visa Waiver Program requirements. On visa refusal rates, travel restrictions and low issuance numbers continue to negatively impact the figures.