The European Commission is in talks with European Union (EU) lawmakers and governments to determine whether to suspend its U.S. and Canadian visa waiver program, due to non-reciprocity with some EU countries. The U.S. government has maintained an open dialogue with EU officials, but said the five countries in question had not yet met the requirements for its visa waiver program. Additionally, Canada has no visa waiver for Bulgaria and Romania. The commission reported the non-reciprocity situations in April 2014, triggering a two-year window for the United States and Canada to lift their visa requirements. That deadline passed on Tuesday, prompting the commission to start the suspension talks. The parliament and member states must weigh in by July 12 on whether the commission should launch a legal procedure. If the EU were to require U.S. and Canadian citizens to get visas, it would have a devastating economic impact, the European Tour Operators Association indicated. To read more, click here.
