Europe warns US over visa plans

Europe warns US over visa plans
By George Parker and Sarah Laitner in Brussels and Andrew Ward in Washington
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Published: July 13 2007 22:03 | Last updated: July 13 2007 22:03


American plans that could force Europeans to give two-days’ notice before flying to the US would hinder last-minute business travel, the EU’s security chief has warned.

Franco Frattini wants to ensure that US moves possibly to extend visa-free travel arrangements to all 27 EU member states do not create new hurdles to transatlantic business.

A scheme under consideration by US Congress proposes that the current US visa waiver programme be extended to former communist countries in central and eastern Europe, easing tensions with allies such as Poland and the Czech Republic.

But new security checks would be carried out on all Europeans before travel on a system based on the Australian model of electronic travel authorisations.

Under the proposals, European travellers would give passport and other details to the US authorities electronically, either personally or through travel agents.

A green light would rapidly confirm visa-free travel was permitted, while a yellow light would require the traveller to attend interviews at a US consulate. Frequent business flyers might enjoy an extended green- light permit.

But US authorities have so far failed to assuage European concerns that processing this information will in practice mean 48-hours’ notice could be required.

Mr Frattini said the system – which would also extend to South Korea – could disrupt “last minute business travel”. The commissioner has raised his concerns directly with Michael Chertoff, US secretary of homeland security.

The new system would be less onerous on eastern Europeans – who have to pay a $100 visa application fee – but it would impose new pre-travel checks on citizens of countries such as Britain, which has been the target of recent Islamist terror attacks.

European officials admitted that they do not know what criteria the US authorities would use to determine which travellers receive a “yellow light”, and hoped it would not be a crude system that was based on ethnic origin.

The US Congress is considering excluding those countries where a high proportion of visa requests are turned down. That could include Poland, where 26 per cent of applications are rejected.