The European Union and the United States have resolved issues of visa reciprocity pertaining to citizens of five EU nations that are not part of the Visa Waiver Program.
Earlier this year, the European Parliament asked that visa requirements be reinstated for U.S. citizens traveling to Europe as early as this summer, but that will not be the case anymore.
The European Commission says it has reached an agreement with the U.S. and will not begin making Americans obtain visas when traveling to Europe.
"The Commission considers that, in view of the significant progress achieved during the last year and the positive momentum of ongoing work, the temporary suspension of visa waivers for nationals of Canada and the United States would be counterproductive at this moment and would not serve the objective of achieving visa-free travel for all EU citizens," said a statement put out by the European Commission in response to the European Parliament's request to suspend the Visa Waiver Program.
The commission reached this decision after engaging in talks with U.S. officials and a process was put into place through which EU member countries-including Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Poland and Romania-could be brought into the Visa Waiver Program.
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The U.S. reconfirmed that, when the necessary steps have been taken, these member countries will be admitted into the program.
"Our goal is and remains to obtain full visa reciprocity with both Canada and the U.S.," Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship Dimitris Avramopoulos said in a statement.
"Our continued engagement and patient diplomatic contacts over the past year have brought tangible results already with Canada, and we are committed to proceeding in the same way with the U.S. Dialogue with our strategic partners is the right way forward and we are on the right track."
The commission will continue to work on visa reciprocity and will report on new developments before December of this year.
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