If the European Commission refuses to meet its legal obligations and take action against the US for treating EU citizens differently when issuing visas, then the Parliament will start legal proceedings to force them to do so. That was the message from the S&D Group members of the civil liberties, justice and home affairs committee this week.

The S&D Group’s vice-president responsible for visa issues, Tanja Fajon, said:

“The US continues to refuse to treat EU citizens equally when it comes to granting visas. Washington does not grant visa-free access to nationals from five EU countries - Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, Croatia and Cyprus. This is clearly against the EU’s rules on visa reciprocity with third countries. Despite this, the European Commission has refused to meet is legal obligations and take action against the US. This is not acceptable.

“We will continue to put pressure on the European Commission to act in the interests of all European citizens. If they continue to refuse to meet their legal obligations then we will have no other possibility but to take them to the European Court of Justice.”