The European Commission has asked the United States to lift visa requirements for citizens of Romania, Poland, Bulgaria, Cyprus and Croatia.

EurActiv reports that a regulation which entered into force in December requires EU countries to "react in common" on visa matters, especially in cases where foreign countries have different treatments for EU citizens.

If the visa problem is not solved within six months, the Commission warned that the EU could introduce visas for US diplomats.

According to the new regulation quoted by EurActiv, the Commission can temporarily suspend the EU's own visa exemptions on foreign countries if they have not lifted their visa requirements within six months.

The new legislation is an initiative of the European Parliament, which in 2012 drew a list of third countries maintaining visa requirements on some EU countries.

Canada requires visas for Romanians and Bulgarians, while Australia in theory applies a unified system of treatment in case of visa requests to all EU countries, but its visa grant rate for Romanians and Bulgarians is the lowest.

According to MEPs, the Lisbon Treaty gives the Union the power to request that its member countries are treated as a whole and that the USA reciprocates on visa policy, writes EurActiv.

The five EU countries were reportedly asked by the US to sign certain bilateral agreements as a precondition for benefiting from the US Visa Waiver Program. One of the conditions is a provision for the exchange of terrorism screening information (HSPD-6), while another one is the agreement on Preventing and Combating Serious Crime (PSCS).

However, the EC is reportedly not happy that individual countries sign data exchange agreements with the US in the absence of a so-called EU-US Umbrella Agreement on data protection, which ensures EU citizens keep their rights when their data is processed in the US.

Diplomats from the countries lacking reciprocity in their visa affairs told EurActiv that their capitals would notify the EC on their situation with third countries before the deadline of February 9, 2014.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com

(photo source: sxc.hu)