Clash of the Titans as the European Union (EU) plans to
declare ‘visa war’ on the United States due to the US government refusal to
extend visa-free access to some member states in the EU.
Thus the EU Parliament is warning up to apply ‘do me I do
you’ approach by also not giving Americans access to come into any member state
territory.
Accordingly, Members of the European Parliament are mounting
pressure on the Commission to bring back visa requirements for against American
citizens if the US government refuses to allow Bulgarian, Croatian, Cypriot,
Polish and Romanian citizens visa-free access to the U.S.
Though some analysts have criticized the move by the EU,
saying it could cause more harm to the EU tourism industry, which may end up
putting so many jobs at risk.
Despite the fact that America is only refusing visa-free
access to residents from five EU states, Brussels is treating the development
as a snub on the entire bloc.
According to the US visa policy, Bulgarian, Croatian,
Cypriot, Polish and Romanian residents will now need to apply for additional
travel documents when entering the US.
MEPs voted in the response despite warnings from experts of
the negative impact visas would have on trans-Atlantic travel.
The European Travel Commission said: “We fully understand
and respect the visa waiver reciprocity mechanism embedded in European
legislation to ensure that all nationals of Member States part of Schengen can
benefit on equal terms from exemption of visa requirement.
“However, we are very concerned about the economic and
political impact of a suspension of visa waiver for US nationals.
“Making it more difficult for US citizens to travel to
Europe would certainly deprive the European travel and tourism sector of
essential revenue, and put thousands of European jobs at stake in one of the
few sectors which experiences a strong growth in employment.”
Furthermore, other experts narrated how threat of terrorism
had already badly effected tourism in Europe and this visa-free ban would only
exacerbate the situation.
Istvan Ujhelyi, MEP and chair of the Tourism Task Force,
said: “The effect of terrorism in Europe in recent years emphasised how fragile
our appeal is as a destination in long-haul markets.
“This is not a time to put unnecessary obstacles in the way
of one of the sectors most capable of generating employment.”
America has not issued a response to today’s vote but it
will likely decrease the total US tourists visiting Europe each year, which
currently numbers around 30 million.
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