The EU wants to tighten up its policy

The European Parliament adopted a resolution on September 12 amending EU Regulation (539/2001) on visas in order to respond to the retention of the visa requirement by certain third countries – including the United States and the Canada – for nationals of several countries of the EU, such as Bulgaria, Cyprus, Poland, the Czech Republic and Romania, while their own citizens continue to benefit from the exemption of visas for entering in the EU, reports Jurnalul Naţional. The Romanian daily explains that

the EU may be able to reintroduce visas for US and Canadian citizens, if Washington and Ottawa do not waive visas for EU nationals. The change will be effective 24 months after its publication in the EU's Official Journal.

An early assessment of the new mechanism will be made by the EU four years after its entry into force, writes the Jurnalul Naţional.

The vote also includes the possibility of doing away with – “as a last resort” – the exemption of visas for third-country nationals in the event of unjustified massive demand for asylum during six months, notes the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung for its part. The member states of the EU have yet to approve these changes, continues the German newspaper, adding –

it is above all the German government that is committed to changing the rules on visas, to deal with the abuse of asylum applications from countries of the western Balkans (Serbia, Macedonia, Bosnia), [...] whose citizens [who do not need visas to enter the EU] and have taken advantage of the free entry into Germany to lodge a claim.