EU considers visa snub against US

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/europe/5408000.stm

Version 0 of 1.

The European Commission has suggested making US diplomats apply for visas, in retaliation for the US's refusal to waive visas for people of 10 EU states.

European interior ministers will debate the idea in Luxembourg on Thursday.

Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini has told US Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff the US position is "no longer understandable and acceptable".

The US waives visas for a given country only when its people are rarely refused a visa, and rarely overstay in the US.

Appropriate steps vis-a-vis the United States could be envisaged European Commission report Greece and nine of the states which joined the EU in 2004 are still not included in the US visa waiver programme.

Some of them already require US diplomats to apply for visas.

Clear criteria

"Appropriate steps vis-a-vis the United States could be envisaged, for example temporarily restoring the visa requirement for US nationals holding diplomatic and duty/official passports," says a Commission report, which the interior ministers will consider.

This is an extremely frustrating exercise for the citizens from those member states Commission spokesman Friso Roscam Abbing It says Canada and Australia, which also require visitors from a number of EU states to apply for visas, have made some progress, and therefore do not yet deserve sanctions.

In particular, they have given a clearer picture of what EU states have to do to achieve waiver status.

"What we need is a country-by-country analysis of the criteria the United States considers unmet," said Friso Roscam Abbing, a spokesman for Mr Frattini.

"This is an extremely frustrating exercise for the citizens from those member states," he added.

Slovenia privileged

Mr Frattini wrote to Mr Chertoff urging him to recognise the "concrete and tangible progress" the states had made to improve the security of their borders.

In total, 27 countries are included in the US visa waiver programme, which allows their citizens to visit for three months without a visa.

Of the states that joined the EU in 2004, only Slovenia has been awarded this privilege.

Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary have led demands for retaliatory measures.