Fifth Report from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on certain third countries' maintenance of visa requirements in breach of the principle of reciprocity in accordance with Article 1(5) of Council Regulation (EC) No 539/2001 listing the third countries whose nationals must be in possession of visas when crossing the external borders and those whose nationals are exempt from that requirement, as amended by Council Regulation (EC) No 851/2005 as regards the reciprocity mechanism
Date: 2009-10-19
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU visa policy, admission of aliens, external border of the EU, foreign national, report, residence permit, rights of aliens, third country

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 19.10.2009 
COM(2009)560 final 

FIFTH REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE 
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

on certain third countries' maintenance of visa requirements in breach of the principle 
of reciprocity in accordance with Article 1(5) of Council Regulation (EC) No 539/2001 
listing the third countries whose nationals must be in possession of visas when crossing 
the external borders and those whose nationals are exempt from that requirement, as 
amended by Council Regulation (EC) No 851/2005 as regards the reciprocity mechanism 

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 

1. 

2. 

Introduction .................................................................................................................. 3 

Results achieved since the Commission's fourth report on reciprocity ....................... 3 

2.1. 

Full reciprocity now in place........................................................................................ 3 

2.1.1. 

Japan ........................................................................................................................... 3 

2.1.2.  Panama........................................................................................................................ 4 

2.1.3.  Singapore .................................................................................................................... 4 

2.2. 

Further progress on reciprocity since the report of 23 July 2008 ................................ 5 

2.2.1.  Australia...................................................................................................................... 5 

2.2.2.  United States of America (U.S.) ................................................................................ 6 

2.3. 

No progress on reciprocity since the report of 23 July 2008 ..................................... 10 

2.3.1.  Brazil ......................................................................................................................... 10 

2.3.2.  Brunei Darussalam................................................................................................... 11 

2.3.3.  Canada ...................................................................................................................... 12 

3. 

Conclusion.................................................................................................................. 12 

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1. 

INTRODUCTION 

Council Regulation (EC) No 539/2001 of 15 March 2001, listing the third countries 
whose nationals must be in possession of visas when crossing the external borders of 
the Member States (Annex 1 to the Regulation, the "negative list") and those whose 
nationals are exempt from that requirement (Annex II to the Regulation, the "positive 
list")1, as amended by Council Regulation (EC) No 851/2005 of 2 June 20052, is the 
basic instrument of our common visa policy, providing a reciprocity mechanism for 
cases  where  a  third  country  on  the  positive  list  maintains  or  introduces  a  visa 
requirement for the citizens of one or more Member States. The first3, second4 and 
third5  reports  provided  a  description  of  the  reciprocity  mechanism  and  the  state  of 
play of non-reciprocity during the respective periods covered. 

The  notifications  by  Member  States  in  the  framework  of  the  new  reciprocity 
mechanism showed that by June 2005 13 third countries were notified with 75 cases 
in total (see Annex 1B of the first visa reciprocity report6). Following their accession 
to the European Union on 1 January 2007, Bulgaria and Romania notified seven third 
countries with which a situation of non-reciprocity was in place. 

The  fourth  visa  reciprocity  report7  of  July  2008  showed  that  a  situation  of  non-
reciprocity  still  existed  with  eight  third  countries  from  the  positive  list.  The  report 
was  presented  to  the  JHA  Council  on  24  July  2008  and  was  well  received  by 
Member  States.  Member  States  were  generally  optimistic  in  achieving  full  visa 
reciprocity. 

The  present  fifth  reciprocity  report  takes  stock  of  the  efforts  made  by  the 
Commission  since  July  2008.  As  detailed  below,  full  visa  reciprocity  has  been 
achieved  with  three  additional  third  countries  while  five  third  countries  on  the 
positive list continue to require visas from nationals of one or more Member States. 

2. 

RESULTS ACHIEVED SINCE THE COMMISSION'S FOURTH REPORT ON RECIPROCITY 

Following the presentation of the fourth report in the Council on 24 July 2008, the 
Commission actively resumed its efforts. 

2.1. 

Full reciprocity now in place 

2.1.1. 

Japan 

Notification: Romania 

1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
7 

OJ L 81, 21.3.2001, p. 1. 
OJ L 141, 4.6.2005, p. 3. 
COM(2006) 3 final. 
COM(2006) 568 fnal. 
COM(2007) 533 final. 
COM(2006) 3 final, p. 18. 
COM(2008) 486 final/2. 

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On 23 June 2009, Japan informed Romania by Note Verbale No. 59/2009 that from 1 
September  2009  to  31  December  2011  the  visa  requirement  would  be  waived  for 
nationals  of  Romania.  This  temporary  waiver  of  the  visa  requirement  would  only 
take  place  on  the  condition  that  Romania  dispatch  an  attaché  from  the  Ministry  of 
Administration and Interior to the Embassy of Romania in Japan from 1 September 
2009  and  that  Romania  engage  in  a  mass  media  information  campaign  to  raise 
awareness among Romania nationals against irregular stay abroad or falling victim to 
trafficking in persons. 

Romania has engaged in a mass media information campaign to inform its nationals 
under which conditions they can travel visa-free to Japan. Furthermore, on 18 August 
2009,  Romania  dispatched  an  internal  affairs  attaché  from  the  Ministry  of 
Administration and Interior to Tokyo. 

Assessment 

Full visa waiver reciprocity has now been achieved vis-à-vis all Member States and 
Schengen associated countries. However, as the decision by Japan is only temporary 
the Commission will closely monitor the application of this temporary visa waiver in 
order to ensure that it will be converted into a permanent one. 

2.1.2.  Panama 

Notifications: Bulgaria and Romania 

On  19  September  2008,  Panama  informed  the  Commission  by  Note  Verbale 
DGPE/DE/770/08 that as from that date citizens  of  Bulgaria  and  Romania  were  no 
longer required to hold a visa to enter Panamanian territory. 

Assessment 

Full visa waiver reciprocity has now been achieved vis-à-vis all Member States and 
Schengen associated countries. 

2.1.3.  Singapore 

Notifications: Bulgaria and Estonia 

Singapore has exempted nationals of all EU Member States from the visa obligation. 
However,  the  visa  waiver  was  limited  to  stays  of  30  days  if  arriving  by  air  and  14 
days if arriving by sea or land, which can be extended locally for two periods of 30 
days in accordance with the general visa waiver scheme. 

On  23  September  2008,  Singapore  informed  the  Commission  by  Note  Verbale 
SEB/024/2008  that  with  effect  from  1  November  2008,  Singapore  would  grant 
nationals of the current 27 EU Member States an upfront 90-day visit pass and 90-
day visa-free stay at the point of arrival. 

Assessment 

Full visa waiver reciprocity has now been achieved vis-à-vis all Member States. 

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2.2. 

Further progress on reciprocity since the report of 23 July 2008 

2.2.1.  Australia 

Current situation 

Australia  required  an  Electronic  Travel  Authority  (ETA)  from  nationals  of  14 
Member  States  (Belgium,  Denmark,  Germany,  Greece,  Spain,  France,  Italy, 
Luxembourg,  Malta,  the  Netherlands,  Austria,  Portugal,  Finland  and  Sweden),  as 
well as from nationals of Iceland and Norway. 

An  eVisa  (e676)  was  required  from  nationals  of  11  Member  States  (Bulgaria,  the 
Czech  Republic,  Estonia,  Cyprus,  Latvia,  Lithuania,  Hungary,  Poland,  Romania, 
Slovenia and Slovakia). Nationals of all these 11 Member States were granted a so-
called “autogrant facility” (see Annex 2 of the first visa reciprocity report for further 
explanation of the eVisa and the "autogrant facility"8). 

On 27 October 2008, Australia introduced the eVisitors system. All Member States 
and  Schengen  associated  countries  as  well  as  some  smaller  European  countries 
(Andorra,  Liechtenstein,  Monaco,  San  Marino  and  the  Holy  See)  are  the  first 
countries to benefit from it, regardless of their previous status (i.e. ETA or eVisa). 

Steps taken to achieve reciprocity 

Australia  has  provided  the  Commission  with  reports  on  eVisitors  application 
statistics.  The  reports  detail  the  number  of  applications,  grants,  refusals,  the  grant 
rate broken down by citizenship and the percentage of grants which were processed 
automatically.  A  first  report  was  provided  to  the  Commission  on  14  April  2009 
covering  the  period  from  27  October  2008  to  31  March  2009.  During  this  period 
159,981  eVisitors  authorisations  were  granted  of  which  85.02%  were  granted 
automatically. The autogrant percentage ranged from 75.89% for Slovak nationals to 
91.44%  for  Greek  nationals.  641  applicants  were  refused,  of  which  249  were 
Romanian nationals. During this first period Australia detected a number of integrity 
concerns  regarding  applicants  from  two  Member  States.  Australia  contacted  these 
Member States in order to address these concerns. 

On 26 August 2009, Australia provided a second report covering the period from 27 
October  2008  to  30  June  2009.  The  report  shows  that  223,324  eVisitors 
authorisations were granted and that the overall autogrant percentage rose to 86.01%. 
The autogrant percentage ranged from 71.05% for Romanian nationals to 92.42% for 
Greek nationals. The overall grant rate (both autogrant and manual) is 99.2%. 1,118 
applicants were refused, of which the largest number were Romanian citizens (498); 
there were no refusals for nationals of Greece, Luxembourg or Malta. 

Australia  also  provided  two  additional  overviews  of  the  first  two  quarters  of  2009. 
The first overview covering the period from 1 January to 31 March 2009 shows that 
91,468  authorisations  were  granted  and  that  the  overall  autogrant  percentage  was 
89.05%. The autogrant percentage ranged from 77.78% for Luxembourgish nationals 
to  96.05%  for  Greek  nationals.  474  applicants  were  refused,  of  which  the  largest 

8 

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number  were  Romanian  citizens  (197);  there  were  no  refusals  for  nationals  of 
Estonia, Greece, Luxembourg or Malta. 

The second overview covering the period from 1 April to 30 June 2009 shows that 
63,343  authorisations  were  granted  and  that  the  overall  autogrant  percentage  was 
88.50%.  The  autogrant  percentage  ranged  from  70.54%  for  Slovakian  nationals  to 
95.06%  for  Greek  nationals.  477  applicants  were  refused,  of  which  the  largest 
number  were  Romanian  citizens  (249);  there  were  no  refusals  for  nationals  of 
Finland, Greece, Luxembourg, Malta or Slovenia. 

In the fourth report the Commission announced that it would prepare an assessment 
on  whether  or  not  the  eVisitors  system  is  tantamount  to  the  Schengen  visa 
application  process  as  defined  in  the  Common  Consular  Instructions.  This 
assessment  is  ongoing  and  will  be  issued  in  a  separate  document  before  the  end  of 
2009. 

Assessment 

The  introduction  of  the  eVisitors  system  has  brought  about  equal  treatment  of  the 
citizens of all Member States and Schengen associated countries. However, the two 
reports and the two quarterly overviews show that although the autogrant percentage 
is  very  high,  a  significant  number  of  applications  is  still  processed  manually.  The 
Commission  will  therefore  continue  to  closely  monitor  the  implementation  of  the 
eVisitors  system.  The  Commission  will  be  in  a  position  to  determine  whether  full 
visa reciprocity has been achieved only once the assessment of the eVisitors system 
has been completed. 

2.2.2.  United States of America (U.S.) 

Current situation 

The visa requirement is maintained for nationals of Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Poland 
and Romania. 

On 17 November 2008, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary and 
Slovakia joined the Visa Waiver Program (VWP). On 30 December 2008, also Malta 
joined the VWP. 

Steps taken to achieve reciprocity 

The  Commission  has  continued  to  raise  the  issue  of  non-reciprocity  with  the  U.S. 
authorities at technical and political levels, notably at the EU-US Justice and Home 
Affairs  Ministerial  Troika  meetings  on  12  December  2008  and  28  April  2009,  the 
EU-US  Task  Force  meetings  on  8  December  2008  and  18  February  2009,  and  the 
EU-US Senior Level Informal Justice and Home Affairs meetings in July 2008 and 
February and July 2009. 

In  the  framework  of  the  "twin  track  approach",  as  agreed  by  the  Committee  of 
Permanent  Representatives  (Coreper)  on  12  March  2008,  the  Commission  has 
continued to pursue discussions on the EC track with the U.S. The Commission aims 
for an agreement in the form of an exchange of letters to record satisfaction of those 
U.S.  legal  requirements  which  fall  under  European  Community  competence  for 

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(continued)  participation  in  the  VWP.  Drafts  of  this  exchange  of  letters  have  been 
exchanged  and  discussed  with  the  U.S.  since  December  2008  and  positions  are 
converging. However, the U.S. reiterates that it seeks to have some concrete results 
from  the  exchange  of  letters  and  therefore  wishes  to  have  the  prospect  of  an 
information sharing pilot project reflected in the exchange of letters. 

As stated in the fourth visa reciprocity report, as part of the EC track, a preliminary 
assessment was carried out (on the basis of the Interim Final Rule) as to whether the 
Electronic  System  for  Travel  Authorization  (ESTA)  is  tantamount  to  the  Schengen 
visa  application  process  as  defined  in  the  Common  Consular  Instructions  or  not, 
together with an analysis of the implications of ESTA for the protection of personal 
data9. The preliminary conclusion being that: 

–  the ESTA cannot at this stage be considered as tantamount to the Schengen visa 

application process as defined in the Common Consular Instructions; 

–  the  ESTA  raises  several  data  protection  concerns  and  further  clarification  is 
needed on some substantial aspects, which it is hoped the Final Rule for the ESTA 
will  provide.  Only  then  will  it  be  possible  to  make  a  complete  assessment  of 
ESTA as regards personal data protection; 

–  progress  has  been  achieved  with  regard  to  the  travel  of  HIV-positive  persons  to 
the U.S. under the VWP, but some pending measures need to be adopted to end 
discrimination against HIV-positive travellers to the U.S. under the VWP. 

Once  the  Final  Rule  on  ESTA  is  published  in  the  U.S.  Federal  Register,  the 
Commission will issue a final assessment taking into account any possible changes. 
The  U.S.  administration  informed  that  the  Final  Rule  will  be  issued  in  the  coming 
months. 

In relation to the ESTA, special attention has been given to the proposal for a Travel 
Promotion Act of 2009 (TPA). The TPA would establish a non-profit corporation to 
better  communicate  U.S.  entry  policies  to  international  travellers  and  promote 
leisure,  business  and  student  travel  to  the  U.S.  Moreover  the  Immigration  and 
Nationality  Act  (INA)  would  be  amended  to  direct  the  Secretary  of  Homeland 
Security to collect a fee for the use of ESTA. The proposed fee is the sum of $10 per 
travel authorisation and an amount that will at least ensure recovery of the full costs 
of providing and administering the ESTA. 

Concerns  about  the  proposed  fee  have  been  voiced  in  letters  to  Secretary  of  State 
Clinton,  Secretary  of  Homeland  Security  Napolitano  and  Secretary  of  Commerce 
Locke on 18 June 2009 and in letters to Congress on 25 June 2009 by the Czech and 
Swedish Ambassadors and the Head of the Commission Delegation in Washington, 
as  well  as  in  a  letter  by  the  Director-General  in  charge  of  Justice,  Freedom  and 
Security to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on 18 June 2009. The Head of 
the Commission Delegation in Washington made a press statement on 25 June 2009 
and again on 4 September 2009. On 3 September 2009, a demarche was made by the 
Commission vis-à-vis the Chargé d'Affaires of the U.S. Mission to the EU, on which 

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occasion a note with the EU concerns was handed over. The fee is considered a step 
backwards  in  the  joint  endeavours  to  ease  transatlantic  mobility  and  taxing  foreign 
travellers  to  promote  tourism  counterproductive  to  the  envisaged  purpose.  In  her 
reply of 24 August 2009, Secretary Napolitano stated that the future introduction of 
an ESTA fee would not eliminate the fundamental differences between an ESTA and 
a non-immigrant visa. Secretary Napolitano also indicated that in the coming months 
a decision to eliminate the I-94W paper form would be taken. What is more, whereas 
VWP  travellers  who  fail  to  comply  with  the  ESTA  requirement  have  so  far  been 
admitted to the U.S. as long as they are otherwise eligible for entry, compliance with 
ESTA would become mandatory. 

On  9  September  2009,  the  U.S.  Senate  adopted  the  proposed  TPA.  As  a  result, 
concerns  were  once  again  voiced  in  letters  to  Members  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  on  23  September  2009  by  the  Swedish  and  Spanish  Ambassadors 
and the Head of the Commission Delegation in Washington. On 7 October 2009, the 
U.S.  House  of  Representatives  passed  the  TPA  unchanged  as  part  of  another  Bill. 
The  U.S.  legislative  process  is  therefore  well  advanced  and  early  enactment  of  the 
TPA now seems likely. 

As a follow-up to the preliminary assessment, and given the fact that pursuant to the 
U.S.  Immigration  and  Nationality  Act  (INA)  HIV-positive  persons  still  may  not 
travel  under  the  U.S.  VWP,  Vice  President  Barrot  raised  the  issue  with  then 
Secretary  of  Homeland  Security  Mr  Chertoff  in  December  2008  and  Secretary  of 
Homeland  Security  Ms  Napolitano  in  March  2009.  As  the  solution  to  the  issue  is 
within  the  competence  of  the  U.S.  Department  of  Health  and  Human  Services 
(DHHS),  on  12  May  2009,  Vice  President  Barrot,  together  with  Commissioner 
Vassiliou,  sent  a  letter  to  Ms  Sebelius,  Secretary  of  Health  and  Human  Services. 
Commissioner Vassiliou raised the issue again with the DHHS during her visit to the 
U.S. in May 2009. In her reply of 24 July 2009, Secretary Sebelius informed that on 
2  July  2009  a  notice  of  proposed  rulemaking  was  published  to  remove  HIV 
references from the list of medical examinations certain aliens must undergo in order 
to  be  admitted  into  the  U.S.  If  those  references  are  removed,  an  individual  having 
HIV infection would be able to travel under the VWP. The process is still ongoing. 

One  of  the  conditions  of  the  9/11  Act  is  that  a  biometric  air  exit  system  be  set  up 
"that  can  verify  the  departure  of  not  less  than  97  percent  of  foreign  nationals  who 
exit through airports of the U.S." The Secretary of Homeland Security had to inform 
Congress  on  progress  on  this  by  30  June  2009  in  order  to  keep  the  visa  waiver 
authority  with  a  visa  refusal  rate  criterion  of  10%.  However,  to  date,  the  Secretary 
has not made such a notification, meaning that the visa refusal rate for the purposes 
of the VWP may not exceed 3%. So far, the U.S. has conducted two biometric exit 
pilots in Atlanta and Denver in 2009 but systematic biometric exit control has yet to 
be implemented. 

In  relation  to  the  VWP,  the  U.S.  also  announced  new  rules  on  travel  with 
emergency/temporary  passports.  As  from  1  July  2009  all  emergency/temporary 
passports  must  be  e-passports  (chip  containing  photograph  and  data  page 
information) for the holder to be eligible for travel to the U.S. under the VWP. The 
two  main  reasons  are  the  fact  that,  according  to  the  laws  governing  the  VWP, 
passports issued after 26 October 2006 must be e-passports and no law provides for 
an exception for temporary or emergency passports, and the fact that some travellers 

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have  used  emergency  passports  for  repeated  non-emergency  travel.  U.S.  Customs 
and  Border  Protection  (CBP)  officers  are  instructed  to  allow  genuine  emergency 
travel to take place if the travellers are otherwise eligible. 

On  29  June  2009,  a  combined  demarche  was  made  by  the  Czech  Presidency,  the 
incoming  Swedish  Presidency  and  the  Commission  Delegation  in  Washington  by 
sending  a  letter  to  Assistant  Secretary  for  Policy  Heyman  of  the  Department  of 
Homeland Security (DHS). The U.S. informed that consulates and border agents had 
been  advised  to  use  discretion  for  emergency  travellers  and  to  have  advanced 
warning  to  border  agents  in  case  of  emergency  travellers  not  complying  with  the 
requirements. 

As regards bilateral arrangements, Greece signed a Memorandum of Understanding 
(MoU)  on  28  June  2009  bringing  the  number  of  Member  States  who  have  signed 
such a MoU with the U.S. to a total of eight. These Member States have also signed 
agreements on enhancing cooperation in preventing and combating serious crime and 
agreements  regarding  information  exchange  on  known  and  suspected  terrorists.  In 
addition  to  Bulgaria,  Romania  also  signed  on  3  November  2008  a  declaration  with 
the  U.S.  outlining  cooperation  on  enhanced  bilateral  security  measures  for 
international travel and the requirements of the U.S. VWP. 

On  31  December  2008,  the  U.S.  sent  a  letter  to  the  Member  States  already  in  the 
VWP previous to its latest enlargement in 2008, informing them on their compliance 
with  the  requirements  of  the  9/11  Act  on  the  VWP  and  the  need  for  further 
cooperation on several requirements of the 9/11 Act. The letter invites these Member 
States to sign the two data sharing agreements as signed by other Member States as 
indicated above. It was furthermore indicated that pre-2008 VWP countries did not 
require a MoU. 

Assessment 

Since  the  report  of  23  July  2008,  seven  additional  Member  States  have  joined  the 
VWP.  Furthermore, the U.S. has stated that  Greece could join the  VWP before  the 
end  of  this  year.  However,  this  would  leave  nationals  of  four  Member  States  still 
ineligible to travel visa-free to the U.S. Moreover, given the fact that no biometric air 
exit  control  system  was  set  up  by  30  June  2009,  the  visa  refusal  rate  criterion  has 
gone down to 3%. This means that based on the latest visa refusal rates of the five 
Member  States  not  yet  participating  in  the  VWP  only  Greece  would  meet  the  3% 
visa  refusal  threshold.  The  Commission  will  continue  to  raise  the  issue  of  non-
reciprocity in its contacts with the U.S. in order to have full reciprocity in place as 
soon as possible. 

As regards the EC track, the Commission hopes to reach an agreement on the text of 
the exchange of letters by the time of the EU-U.S. JHA Ministerial Troika in October 
2009 and will pursue discussions to this end with the U.S. 

Regarding the issue of HIV-positive persons who still may not travel under the VWP 
to  the  U.S.,  the  Commission  believes  that  important  progress  has  been  made.  The 
Commission will closely follow the proposed implementing rulemaking and urge the 
U.S. administration for swift completion of the process so that HIV-positive persons 
may travel under the VWP as soon as possible.  

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In relation to the ESTA, the Commission is very concerned with the prospect of a fee 
to be introduced for the use of the ESTA and for promoting tourism to the U.S. In 
various  demarches  the  EU  has  made  clear  that  the  introduction  of  a  fee  for  ESTA 
would be seen as an additional onus for European citizens travelling to the U.S. and 
inconsistent  with  the  oft-repeated  commitment  to  transatlantic  contacts  and 
cooperation.  The  Commission  has  not  yet  completed  its  assessment  of  the  ESTA 
with  a  view  to  determining  whether  or  not  it  is  tantamount  to  the  Schengen  visa 
application process. This is because the final ESTA rule has yet to be published in 
the  U.S.  There  is  no  doubt  that  charging  a  fee,  largely  for  the  benefit  of  U.S. 
domestic industry, would be an additional factor in this assessment and be likely to 
strengthen arguments that the ESTA is similar to a visa. 

Finally,  it  should  be  noted  that  according  to  the  U.S.  Department  of  Homeland 
Security  ESTA  compliance  rates  are  just  over  90%.  This  suggests  that  making 
compliance  with  ESTA  fully  mandatory  overnight,  if  not  accompanied  by  a 
sufficient  information  campaign  by  the  U.S.  authorities  and  some  degree  of 
discretion  for  border  guards,  could  lead  to  a  temporary  increase  in  VWP  travellers 
being denied entry into the U.S. 

2.3. 

No progress on reciprocity since the report of 23 July 2008 

2.3.1.  Brazil  

Current situation 

The citizens of four Member States, namely Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia and Malta, still 
require a visa to enter Brazil. 

The  visa  waiver  agreement  between  Lithuania  and  Brazil,  signed  in  2003,  entered 
into force on 13 January 2009. 

Steps taken to achieve reciprocity 

On  2  July  2008,  the  Commission  formally  opened  negotiations  with  Brazil  on  a 
short-stay  visa  waiver  agreement.  Negotiations  began  in  practice  in  November  and 
December 2008. 

free 

travel  swiftly, 

The EU-Brazil Rio Summit of 22 December 2008 reiterated the need for a short-stay 
visa waiver agreement, which was also included in the Joint Action Plan: "Ensuring 
visa 
the  respective 
parliamentary  and  other  internal  procedures,  on  a  basis  of  reciprocity,  by 
negotiating  and  finalizing  in  the  near  future  a  short  stay  visa  waiver  agreement(s) 
between  the  EC  and  Brazil,  on  the  basis  of  the  proposals  exchanged."  This 
commitment  was  again  reaffirmed  by  Brazil  at  the  EC-Brazil  Joint  Committee 
meeting of 7 July 2009. 

the  completion  of 

fully  respecting 

On 18 February, 8 May and 2 July 2009, the Commission held meetings with Brazil 
in  order  to  reach  an  agreement  on  a  compromise  text  for  a  visa  waiver  agreement. 
However, no substantial progress could be achieved. In this respect, Vice-President 
Barrot sent a letter to the Brazilian Minister of External Relations, Mr Amorim, on 
31  July  2009  in  which  on  the  one  hand  he  reiterated  the  need  to  accelerate  and 
finalise the negotiations on the visa waiver agreement and on the other hand referred 

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to  the  fact  that  the  European  Community  had  already  shown  a  high  degree  of 
flexibility. 

On 26 August 2009, a video conference took place between the Commission and the 
Brazilian  Ministry  of  External  Relations  in  order  to  prepare  for  the  next  round  of 
negotiations. Although no real progress could be made on the visa waiver agreement, 
both  the  Commission  and  Brazil  clarified  their  positions  on  the  main  points  to  be 
settled;  i.e.  the  scope  of  the  agreement,  the  need  for  a  Joint  Committee,  and  the 
territorial application of the agreement with regard to the non-European territories of 
France and the Netherlands. 

From  29  September  to  1  October  2009,  the  Commission  had  a  further  round  of 
negotiations with the Brazilian authorities in Brasilia. During these negotiations the 
parties succeeded to agree to a draft text of the short-stay visa waiver agreement for 
holders of ordinary passports. 

Assessment 

The Commission welcomes the agreement reached on the draft text of the short-stay 
visa  waiver  agreement  for  holders  of  ordinary  passports  and  expects  to  achieve  an 
agreement  soon  on  the  short-stay  visa  waiver  agreement  for  holders  of  diplomatic, 
service or official passports. The Commission hopes that Brazil will be able to ratify 
both agreements through their internal procedures as soon as possible. 

2.3.2.  Brunei Darussalam 

Current situation 

All  Member  States  benefit  from  a  30  day  visa  waiver.  This  visa  waiver  can  be 
extended locally for two periods of 30 days up to a total visa waiver stay of 90 days. 
However,  the  citizens  of  the  U.S.  enjoy  a  preferential  90  day  stay  if  they  are  the 
holder of an ordinary machine-readable passport. 

Steps taken to achieve reciprocity 

The  Commission  had  consultations  with  the  Brunei  Darussalam  Mission  to  the 
European Union at technical level to discuss the possibilities for a visa waiver of 90 
days  comparable  to  the  situation  for  U.S.  citizens  and  thereby  achieving  full 
reciprocity. During these consultations the Commission explained that  all passports 
issued  by  Member  States  are  machine-readable  and  as  from  28  June  2009  the 
Member States even issue e-passports with a chip containing a facial image and two 
fingerprints.  The  Commission  furthermore  explained  that  with  Singapore  and 
Malaysia  –  two  neighbouring  countries  of  Brunei  Darussalam  –  which  had  similar 
visa policies towards EU citizens, full visa reciprocity has been achieved for a 90 day 
visa free stay. 

Assessment 

The  internal  discussions  among  different  ministries  of  Brunei  Darussalam  on  the 
possibilities for a 90 day visa waiver are ongoing. The Commission will follow these 
internal discussions in Brunei Darussalam very closely and will continue consulting 

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with the Brunei Darussalam authorities in order to achieve the same preferential 90 
day visa waiver as is granted to the U.S. 

2.3.3.  Canada 

Current situation 

The  visa  requirement  is  maintained  for  nationals  of  Bulgaria  and  Romania,  and  as 
from 14 July 2009 reintroduced for nationals of the Czech Republic. Regarding the 
reintroduction  of  the  visa  requirement  for  nationals  of  the  Czech  Republic  the 
Commission refers to its separate ad-hoc report issued on 19 October 200910. 

Steps taken to achieve reciprocity 

The  issue  of  visa  free  travel  for  all  EU  citizens  with  Canada  was  raised  at  several 
occasions, and in particular at the EU-Canada Summits in 2008 and 2009. At these 
occasions it was confirmed that Canada and the EU will continue to work together 
towards the goal of visa-free travel to Canada for all EU citizens as soon as possible. 

Following the technical visits to Romania and Bulgaria in April 2008, Canada shared 
the  key  findings  of  its  reviews  with  Bulgaria  and  Romania  in  March  2009.  Both 
Member  States  have  provided  updated  information  related  to  the  findings  of  the 
review.  Canada  has  shared  its  concerns  with  both  Member  States  but  has  also 
expressed  its  intention  to  continue  working  together  and  has  asked  them  to  share 
updated information on the areas of concern. Furthermore, Canada will continue to 
monitor  the  conditions  in  Bulgaria  and  Romania  as  well  as  the  progress  made 
towards meeting Canada's criteria for visa exemption. 

Assessment 

The Commission will continue to pursue discussions with Canada in order to achieve 
progress towards the lifting of the visa requirements for Bulgaria and Romania. 

3. 

CONCLUSION 

The  Commission  considers  that  since  the  last  report  of  23  July  2008  the  new  visa 
reciprocity mechanism has once more proved to be effective. Out of the eight third 
countries  on  the  positive  list  which  required  visas  from  citizens  of  one  or  more 
Member  States  at  the  time  of  the  previous  report,  only  five  third  countries  now 
continue  to  do  so.  Full  visa  reciprocity  has  been  achieved  with  Japan,  Panama  and 
Singapore.  

Furthermore,  significant  progress  has  been  achieved  with  Australia  and  the  U.S. 
Regarding Australia, the introduction of the eVisitors system has brought about equal 
treatment  of  the  citizens  of  all  Member  States  and  Schengen  associated  countries. 
The Commission will be in a position to determine whether full visa reciprocity has 
been achieved only once the assessment of the eVisitors system has been completed. 

10 

COM(2009) 562 final 

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As  regards  the  U.S.,  seven  additional  Member  States  have  joined  the  VWP. 
Nevertheless,  the  situation  is  still  far  from  satisfactory  and  the  Commission  will 
pursue discussions with the U.S. in order to secure early inclusion of the remaining 
five  Member  States  in  the  VWP.  With  regard  to  the  U.S.  ESTA,  the  Commission 
deplores the passage of legislation introducing a fee for the use of the ESTA for the 
benefit  of  the  U.S.  travel  and  tourism  industry.  This  tax  on  foreigners  would  be  a 
retrograde  and  counter-productive  step  and  could  lead  to  the  determination  that  the 
ESTA  is  tantamount  to  the  Schengen  visa  application  process  with  very  serious 
potential consequences for U.S. travellers to Europe. 

With  regard  to  Brunei  Darussalam  the  Commission  will  closely  follow  the  internal 
discussions 
in  Brunei  Darussalam  and  continue  consultations  with  Brunei 
Darussalam  authorities  in  order  to  achieve  a  90  day  visa  waiver  for  all  Member 
States. 

Regarding Brazil welcomes the agreement reached on the draft text of the short-stay 
visa  waiver  agreement  for  holders  of  ordinary  passports  and  expects  to  achieve  an 
agreement  soon  on  the  short-stay  visa  waiver  agreement  for  holders  of  diplomatic, 
service or official passports. The Commission hopes that Brazil will be able to ratify 
both agreements through their internal procedures as soon as possible. 

Regarding Canada the Commission will continue to pursue discussions with Canada 
in order to achieve progress towards the lifting of the visa requirements for Bulgaria 
and Romania. 

In  accordance  with  Article  1(5)  of  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  539/2001,  as 
amended  by  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  851/2005,  the  Commission  will  again 
report to the Council and the European Parliament no later than 30 June 2010. 

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