COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL State of play and possible ways forward as regards the situation of non-reciprocity with certain third countries in the area of visa policy and assessment of the effectiveness of the reciprocity mechanism provided for in Article 1(4) of Council Regulation (EC) No 539/2001
Date: 2017-12-20
Institutions: Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs, European Commission
Subjects: Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, EU visa policy, Poland, Romania, United States, external border of the EU, foreign national

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 20.12.2017  COM(2017) 813 final  COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL State of play and possible ways forward as regards the situation of non-reciprocity with certain third countries in the area of visa policy and assessment of the effectiveness of the reciprocity mechanism provided for in Article 1(4) of Council Regulation  (EC) No 539/2001   
 
 
I. 

INTRODUCTION 

On 12 April 2016, the Commission presented a Communication on the state of play and the 
possible ways forward as regards the situation of non-reciprocity with certain third countries 
in the area of visa policy1. In that Communication it was noted that with the active support of 
the Commission, the vast majority of the non-reciprocity cases notified as regards eight third 
countries  had  been  solved.  However,  the  Communication  recalled  that,  if  the  third  country 
concerned had not lifted the visa requirement by 12 April 2016, Council Regulation (EC) No 
539/2001  of  15  March  2001  as  amended  by  the  European  Parliament  and  Council  by 
Regulation  (EU)  No  1289/2013  of  11  December  20132  obliges  the  Commission  to  adopt  a 
delegated act suspending for 12 months the visa waiver for nationals of that third country. The 
Regulation  also  requires  that  the  Commission  takes  into  account  the  consequences  of  the 
suspension of the visa waiver for the external relations of the EU and its Member States. 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  presented  three  follow-up  Communications  in  July3  and  December4  2016, 
and in May 20175. Besides reporting on the progress achieved, the May 2017 Communication 
also defined the position of the Commission following the European Parliament's Resolution 
of  2  March  2017  on  'obligations  of  the  Commission  in  the  field  of  visa  reciprocity  in 
accordance with Article 1(4) of Regulation (EC) No 539/2001' calling on the Commission, on 
the basis of Article 265 TFEU, to  adopt  the  required delegated act within  two months from 
the date of adoption of the Resolution at the latest6. In that Communication the Commission 
considered that particularly in view of the progress achieved during the previous 12 months 
and the ongoing work, the adoption of a delegated act temporarily suspending the exemption 
from  the  visa  requirement  for  nationals  of  Canada  and  the  United  States  would  have  been 
counterproductive  at  that  moment,  and  it  would  not  have  served  the  objective  of  achieving 
visa-free travel for all EU citizens. At the same time, the Commission committed to continue 
working closely with both the European Parliament and the Council, with Canada, the United 
States as well as with the Member States concerned to accelerate progress towards  full visa 
reciprocity, and to report on the developments by the end of December 2017.  

This  Communication  takes  stock  of  progress  achieved  in  this  area  since  May  2017  in 
discussions  with  Canada  and  the  United  States,  and  reports  that  full  visa  reciprocity  with 
Canada has now been achieved.  

1  
2  

3  
4  
5  
6  

COM(2016) 221 final of 12 April 2016. 
Regulation (EU) No 1289/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 
amending  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 and those whose nationals 
are exempt from that requirement, OJ L 347 of 11.12.2013, p. 74. 
COM(2016) 481 final of 12 July 2016. 
COM(2016) 816 final of 21 December 2016. 
COM (2017) 227 final of 2 May 2017. 
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+TA+P8-TA-2017-
0060+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN  

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In addition, Chapter IV of this Communication provides the Commission's assessment on the 
effectiveness  of  the  reciprocity  mechanism  as  set  out  in  Article  1b  of  the  Regulation,  and 
reports on the use of the delegation of power provided in Article 4b(2) of the Regulation. 

II. 

 POSITIONS TAKEN IN RESPONSE TO THE LATEST COMMUNICATION 

Following up on the Resolution, the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, 
by  a  letter  dated  2  June  2017,    referred  to  the  Legal  Affairs  Committee  of  the  European 
Parliament the possible action for failure to act against the Commission before the European 
Court of Justice, regarding its obligations in the field of visa reciprocity. On 12 July 2017, the 
Legal Affairs Committee recommended not to bring an action before the European Court of 
Justice against the Commission for failure to act, noting that it would re-examine the issue in 
early 2018. 

As  previously  reported,  also  in  the  past  seven  months,  the  Council  has  not  discussed  the 
matter. 

III.  LATEST DEVELOPMENTS 

a. Canada (notified by Bulgaria and Romania) 

As regards Canada, the May 2017 Communication already reported significant progress. The 
Commission  welcomed the fact that on 1 May 2017 Canada had lifted the visa requirement 
for Bulgarian and Romanian citizens who have held a Canadian temporary resident visa in the 
past 10 years or who hold a valid U.S. non-immigrant visa. 

The  Commission  welcomes  the  fact  that,  as  of  1  December  2017,  Canada  grants  visa-free 
access to  all  Bulgarian  and  Romanian  citizens.  Full  visa  reciprocity  has  thus  been  achieved 
with Canada. The result was achieved by extensive political and technical contacts between 
the  Commission,  Canada  and  the  governments  of  Bulgaria  and  Romania,  as  well  as  an 
information  campaign  addressed  to  the  citizens  of  those  countries  and  consultations  with 
major travel agencies and airlines in both Member States. 
During  the  1st  EU-Canada  Joint  Ministerial  Committee  Meeting  under  the  Strategic 
Partnership Agreement with Canada which was held on 4 December 2017 in Brussels, both 
parties welcomed the full visa lifting for all EU citizens, noting that this will enhance citizens’ 
mobility  and  further  strengthen  cultural,  political  and  economic  ties  between  the  EU  and 
Canada7. 

b. United States (notified by Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Poland and Romania) 

In  the  May  2017  Communication,  the  Commission  reported  that  political  and  technical 
contacts had been stepped up and that the United States interlocutors had agreed to launch a 
result-oriented  process  towards  bringing  the  five  Member  States  into  the  Visa  Waiver 
Program. In addition, the five Member States concerned also committed to working jointly in 
a constructive  and positive spirit,  in close  cooperation with the Commission and the United 
States,  to  achieve  full  visa  reciprocity as  soon as  possible, including  searching for  mutually 

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http://www2.consilium.europa.eu/media/32024/20171204-joint-statement.pdf  

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acceptable  interim  steps.  An  overview  of  the  requirements  still  to  be  fulfilled  by  the  five 
Member States was established.  

At the  EU-U.S. Justice and Home  Affairs Ministerial  Meeting  of June  2017, Commissioner 
Avramopoulos  and  Elaine  C.  Duke,  Deputy  Secretary  of  the  U.S.  Department  of  Homeland 
Security  issued  a  Joint  Statement8  on  advancing  towards  full  visa  reciprocity  between  the 
EU  and  the United  States.  The  Joint  Statement confirmed  commitments,  such  as  preserving 
and expanding visa-free travel between the EU and the United States and stepping up efforts 
to improve cooperation with a view to assist Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Poland and Romania 
in  advancing  more  rapidly  towards  the  fulfilment  of  the  requirements  for  the  Visa  Waiver 
Program. 

In  line  with  the  Joint  Statement,  the  Commission  has  continued  to  use  all  occasions  to 
reiterate the importance of accelerating progress towards full visa reciprocity between the EU 
and the United States. 

In  August  2017,  Commissioner  Avramopoulos  in  a  meeting  with  the  Coordinator  for 
Counterterrorism of the U.S. Department of State, Nathan A. Sales, recalled the importance of 
this issue for the EU.  

The latest technical tripartite meeting on visa reciprocity with the United States and the five 
Member  States  concerned  took  place  on  11  September  2017.  The  participants  reviewed  the 
state  of  play  on  the  remaining  Visa  Waiver  Program  requirements,  such  as  the  visa  refusal 
rate  which  is  the  main  obstacle  for  four  Member  States;  the  main  grounds  of  refusals;  the 
situation  of  visa  applications  lodged  by  young  people  and  the  possibilities  of  launching 
information campaigns to reduce the refusal rate.  

The United States also informed about progress in setting up an air exit system that, according 
to the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act9, once in place, can verify the departure of not 
less than 97% of foreign travellers. Putting this system in place would grant the Secretary of 
the  Department  of  Homeland  Security  discretion  to  derogate  from  the  3%  visa  refusal 
requirement,  and  possibility  to  recommend  the  admission  of  countries  into  the  Visa  Waiver 
Program  whose  refusal  rate  is  less  than  10%,  provided  that  they  fulfil  all  security  related 
requirements  and the totality  of the  countries'  security  mitigation  measures  ensure that  their 
participation in the Visa Waiver Program would not compromise the security and migratory 
interests  of  the  United  States.  The  tripartite  meeting  and  the  EU-U.S.  Justice  and  Home 
Affairs Senior Officials' Meeting held on 20-21 September 2017 in Tallinn took stock of the 
latest developments and progress at the technical level was acknowledged. 

Furthermore,  between  25  and  29  September,  a  Commission  technical  delegation  visited 
Bulgaria,  Romania,  Cyprus,  Poland  and  Croatia  to  discuss  the  state  of  play  regarding  the 
fulfilment  of  outstanding  Visa  Waiver  Program  requirements.  The  Commission  offered 
assistance to the five Member States to continue working on the fulfilment of the outstanding 
requirements, including ways of lowering the visa refusal rate. In this regard, the Commission 
proposed that information  campaigns targeting citizens  travelling to  the United  States  could 
be  financed  from  the  EU's  Internal  Security  Fund  national  programmes.  In  order  to  further 
explore the possibilities of launching such campaigns, the Commission organised a follow-up 
videoconference on 25 October to provide further information on the funding possibilities and 

8  
9  

http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_STATEMENT-17-1671_en.htm  
https://www.uscis.gov/ilink/docView/SLB/HTML/SLB/0-0-0-1/0-0-0-29/0-0-0-4391.html   

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to exchange information and best practices on information campaigns that have been launched 
by  Member  States  in  the  past.  Some  of  the  Member  States  concerned  are  currently 
considering  using  their  national  programmes  to  this  end.  The  Commission  stands  ready  to 
further assist Members States as needed. 

Visa  reciprocity  was  on  the  agenda  of  the  EU-U.S.  Justice  and  Home  Affairs  Ministerial 
meeting  held  on  17  November  in  Washington  D.C.  At  the  Ministerial  meeting,  both  parties 
noted  the  progress  in  cooperative  discussions  towards  reciprocal  and  secure  visa-free  travel 
under their respective legal frameworks, and committed to continue their engagement in this 
process.10 

Regarding  the  outstanding  Visa  Waiver  Program  requirements,  as  reported  in  the  previous 
Communications,  the  visa  refusal  rate11  and  the  implementation  of  the  Preventing  and 
Combatting Serious Crime (PCSC) agreement12 remain the two main U.S. requirements to be 
fulfilled  before  the  process  could  enter  into  the  next  phase,  which  is  the  nomination  of  the 
country to the Visa Waiver Program by the Department of State, followed-up by a thorough 
interagency  security  review.  In  the  past  seven  months,  notable  progress  has  been  made  by 
Cyprus and Romania as regards the reporting of lost and stolen travel documents to Interpol. 
Furthermore,  the  Romanian  Parliament  has  ratified  the  PCSC  agreement;  it  is  now  for  the 
United  States  to  ratify  it.  Bulgaria,  Croatia  and  Cyprus  are  committed  to  the  full 
implementation  of  their  respective  PCSC  agreements.  Contacts  are  being  undertaken  by 
concerned Member States to follow up on this matter. 

In  the  coming  months,  the  Commission  in  close  cooperation  with  the  five  Member  States 
concerned,  will  continue  to  closely  engage  with  the  United  States  at  all  levels.  The  closer 
cooperation among the five Member States concerned and the United States, duly following-
up on the issues identified during the previous tripartite meetings, such as the reporting of lost 
and stolen travel documents to Interpol, on bilateral information sharing agreements with the 
United  States,  pro-active  work  on  the  visa  refusal  rate  requirement,  including  by  launching 
information campaigns, is taking place and progress is noted. The Commission will urge the 
U.S. counterparts to speed up the process putting in place the air exit system and stands ready 
to  share  the  EU's  experience  as  regards  new  technologies  and  systems  currently  being 
developed  and  established  at  its  external  borders  (e.g.  ABC  gates,  the  future  Entry  Exit 
System, ETIAS). 

The regular high-level meetings (e.g. the Justice and Home Affairs Senior Officials' Meeting 
on  27-28  February  2018  and  the  EU-U.S.  Justice  and  Home  Affairs  Ministerial  Meeting  in 
May  2018)  and  the  technical  meetings,  such  as  the  next  tripartite  meeting  that  should  take 
place during the first half of 2018, will provide occasions to further accelerate progress. 

IV. 

ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE RECIPROCITY MECHANISM 

According to Article 1b of the Regulation, by 10 January 2018, the Commission shall submit 
a  report  to  the  European  Parliament  and  to  the  Council  assessing  the  effectiveness  of  the 

10  
11  

12  

http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_STATEMENT-17-4735_en.htm 
The  U.S.  Department  of  State  published  in  November  2017  the  statistics  on  refusal  for  Fiscal  Year 
2017. Bulgaria: 14,97%; Croatia: 5,1%; Cyprus: 1,69%; Poland: 5,92%; Romania: 11,76%. 
Agreement on enhancing law enforcement cooperation in order to prevent and combat serious crime. 

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reciprocity  mechanism  and,  if  necessary,  submit  a  legislative  proposal  amending  the 
Regulation.  

Regulation  (EC)  No  539/2001  was  revised  in  2013  by  Regulation  (EU)  No  1289/2013, 
following calls from Member States as well as the European Parliament for a more efficient 
visa reciprocity mechanism13, which would provide for solidarity amongst Member States and 
for  the  possibility  to  adopt  stronger  measures  towards  third  countries  not  granting  full  visa 
reciprocity. The revised mechanism foresees that Member States have to notify the European 
Parliament,  the  Council  and  the  Commission  of  existing  and  new  cases  of  non-reciprocity 
with third countries. Immediately after the publication of the Member States' notifications, the 
Commission,  in  consultation  with  the  Member  State  concerned,  has  to  take  steps  with  the 
third  country  concerned,  in  particular  in  the  political,  economic  and  commercial  fields,  in 
order to restore or introduce visa-free travel.  

At the latest 6 months after the date of the publication of the notifications and then at regular 
intervals of up to 6 months, the Commission has to either adopt an implementing act on the 
temporary suspension of the visa waiver for up to 6 months for certain categories of citizens 
of the third country concerned, or submit a report to the committee referred to in Article 4a(1) 
of  Regulation  (EC)  No  539/2001  assessing  the  situation,  and  stating  the  reasons  why  it 
decided  not  to  suspend  the  exemption  from  the  visa  requirement.  When  considering  further 
steps,  the  Commission  has  to  take  into  account  the  outcome  of  the  measures  taken  by  the 
Member  States  concerned  with  a  view  to  ensuring  visa-free  travel  with  the  third  country  in 
question,  the  steps  taken  by  the  Commission  in  consultation  with  the  Member  States 
concerned,  and  with  the  authorities  of  the  third  country  in  question.  The  Regulation  also 
obliges the Commission to take into account the consequences of the suspension of the visa 
waiver for the external relations of the Union and its Member States with that third country. 

In the second stage of the mechanism, if the third country has not lifted the visa requirement 
within  24  months  of  the  publication  date  (in  the  present  case  by  12  April  2016),  the 
Commission  is  obliged  to  adopt  a  delegated  act  on  the  temporary  suspension  of  the  visa 
waiver for 12 months for nationals of that third country (Article 1(4)(f) of the Regulation). 

The  Commission  received  in  2014  notifications  of  non-reciprocity  situations  from  five 
Member  States:  Bulgaria,  Croatia,  Cyprus,  Poland  and  Romania.  These  notifications 
related to Canada, the United States, Australia, Brunei and Japan.14 

Since  then,  Australia  lifted  the  airport  transit  visa  requirement  for  Bulgarian  citizens  in 
October 2014 and for Croatian and Romanian citizens in June 2015. Full visa reciprocity is 
thus in place with Australia. Brunei (notified by Croatia) has put in place the visa exemption 
for  Croatian  citizens  and  started  to  grant  90  days  visa-free  stay  for  the  citizens  of 
Liechtenstein, which was officially notified on 13 April 2016. Japan (notified by Romania) 
informed  Romania  on  17  December  2015  that  the  visa-free  status  for  Romanian  citizens, 
including  holders  of  temporary  passports,  had  been  extended  until  31  December  2018.  Full 
visa  reciprocity  is  thus  ensured  with  Japan  until  31  December  2018.  Canada,  as  already 
indicated under point III of this Communication, grants visa-free access to all Bulgarian and 

13   

14  

The  previous  mechanism,  which  entered  into  force  in  2005,  gave  the  possibility  to  the  Commission, 
following Member States' notifications of non-reciprocity cases, to present a proposal providing for the 
temporary restoration of the visa requirement for national of the third country concerned.  
For further details cf. point I.b. of the first reciprocity report - C(2004)7218 final. 

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Romanian citizens as of 1 December 2017. Full visa reciprocity has thus been achieved with 
Canada as well. 

Assessment  

Effectiveness of the mechanism 

The number of non-reciprocity cases has been considerably reduced in the last two-and-
a-half  years,  leaving  the  United  States  as  the  only  third  country  in  the  EU's  visa-free  list 
which does not grant visa-free access to the citizens of all Member States. In this light, it can 
be  considered  that  in  general  terms  the  visa  reciprocity  mechanism  as  modified  by 
Regulation  (EU)  1289/2013  has  been  effective.  The  current  mechanism  establishes 
institutional  timeframes  and  provides  for  specific  measures  to  respond  to  cases  of  non-
reciprocity,  including  to  leverage  progress  in  a  coordinated  manner  towards  third  countries, 
by setting out clearly and in a transparent way the steps, including the temporary suspension 
of visa exemptions.  

The  existence  of  this  mechanism  has  a  preventive  effect  in  cases  where  a  third  country  is 
considering to (re)impose a visa requirement for citizens of one or more Member States. The 
Commission considers that to a certain extent the mechanism has provided incentives to third 
countries to lift existing visa requirements. 

In any case the existence of the mechanism represents a sign of solidarity among the Member 
States  and  in  light  of  the  progress  achieved  in  the  past  two-and-a-half  years,  it  can  be 
concluded  that  the  mechanism  has  contributed  to  achieve  progress  towards  full  visa 
reciprocity vis-à-vis third countries.  

The temporary suspension of the visa exemption for third countries  

The  temporary  suspension  of  the  visa  exemption  for  third  countries  that  do  not  grant  visa 
reciprocity has been a core element of the visa reciprocity mechanism, but it has never been 
requested by the Member States concerned (not even in a limited extent, for certain categories 
of nationals of the third country concerned). For these situations, the Regulation also requires 
that the Commission takes into  account  the consequences of the suspension for the external 
relations of the EU and the Member States.  As regards the countries covered by the current 
visa reciprocity mechanism, in the April 2016 Communication the Commission assessed the 
consequences  and  impact  of  the  visa  waiver  for  EU  citizens  and  businesses  as  well  as 
nationals  of  third  countries  concerned.  In  the  April  2016  Communication  and  the  three 
follow-up  Communications  presented  in  July  and  December  2016,  and  in  May  2017,  the 
Commission  maintained  that  temporarily  suspending  the  visa  exemption  for  specific  third 
countries  that  do  not  grant  visa  reciprocity,  in  particular  in  view  of  progress  achieved  and 
ongoing  work  with  a  specific  third  country  and  the  Member  States  concerned,  would  be 
counterproductive and would not serve to achieve the objective of visa-free travel for all EU 
citizens.  It  also  invited  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  to  discuss  the  most 
appropriate way forward.  

Procedural shortcomings 

Procedurally,  shortcomings  in  the  functioning  of  the  visa  reciprocity  mechanism  have  been 
identified  in  two  respects.  First,  the  six  month  interval  for  the  reporting  obligation  on  the 
Commission in the first phase of the mechanism is too short given that while non-reciprocity 
cases  may  be  resolved  at  political  level,  more  time  may  be  required  to  implement  visa-free 
travel in practice. Secondly, the maximum – 90 days - deadline for putting in place the visa 

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requirement might be too short in the particular cases of certain third countries (e.g. it does 
not appear sufficient to reintroduce in practice the visa requirement for U.S. citizens). 

In  conclusion,  given  that,  despite  the  above-mentioned  shortcomings,  the  current  visa 
reciprocity mechanism has contributed to resolving the vast majority of non-reciprocity cases 
in  the  last  two-and-a-half  years,  the  Commission  is  not,  at  this  point  in  time,  considering  a 
legislative proposal for the revision of the mechanism.  

Use of the delegation of power 

According  to  Article  4b  of  the  Regulation,  the  power  to  adopt  delegated  acts  referred  to  in 
Article 1(4)(f) shall be conferred on the Commission for a period of five years from 9 January 
2014  and  the  Commission  shall  draw  up  a  report  in  respect  of  the  delegation  of  power  not 
later than nine months before the end of the five-year period. The Commission hereby reports 
that it has not used this power. 

V.  CONCLUSION AND WAY FORWARD 

The Commission remains committed to achieving full visa reciprocity for all Member States 
as a matter of priority.  

The  Commission  welcomes  that,  in  line  with  its  earlier  commitment,  on  1  December  2017, 
Canada  lifted  the  visa  requirement  for  all  Bulgarian  and  Romanian  citizens.  Full  visa 
reciprocity has thus been achieved with Canada. 

The Commission will continue to urge the United States to further cooperate, in the spirit of 
the  Joint  Statement  adopted  in  June  2017,  with  the  five  Member  States  concerned  and  the 
Commission  to  accelerate  progress  towards  full  visa  reciprocity.  This  should  lead  to 
intensified and concrete action on all sides.  

In light of the fact that full visa reciprocity has been achieved with Canada, and the ongoing 
work  with  the  United  States,  as  things  stand,  the  Commission  maintains  its  position  that 
cooperation  and  joint  diplomatic  engagement  continues  to  be  the  most  appropriate  way 
forward.  The  Commission  also  continues  to  consider  that  the  adoption  of  a  delegated  act 
temporarily suspending the visa waiver for U.S. citizens would be counterproductive at 
this  moment  and  would  not  serve  to  achieve  the  objective  of  visa-free  travel  for  all  EU 
citizens to the United States. This position can be reviewed in the light of developments.  

As regards the Commission's assessment on effectiveness of the reciprocity mechanism, the 
Commission recognises the progress achieved since the adoption of the revised mechanism. 
Although  this  progress  cannot  solely  be  attributed  to  the  mechanism,  it  does  establish  an 
instrument that allows for collective and coordinated EU action in non-reciprocity cases, and 
it is considered to have proven to be a useful tool towards some third countries. At this point 
in  time,  the  Commission  is  not  considering  to  bring  forward  a  legislative  proposal  for  the 
revision of the mechanism.  

The  Commission  remains  committed  to  working  closely  with  the  European  Parliament  and 
the Council on the way forward. It will report on the further developments to the European 
Parliament and the Council at the latest by autumn 2018. 

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