EU - US Summit to start in Slovenia on Tuesday

Luni, 9 iunie 2008, 17:39 English | Regional Europe

One of the main topics on the EU - US Summit due to start in Slovenia on Tuesday is the elimination of US visa requirements for EU member states. Romania is one of the states that is not included in the Visa Waiver program and its chances to enter in the program are slim. According to the American legislation, the rejection rate must not exceed 10% and it amounted to 37.7% in Romania's case last year.

During the summit, some European Union members will be invited to join the Visa Waiver program, European Foreign Affairs Commissioner Benita Ferrero Waldner has declared. Currently, 15 EU member states are part of the program. Romania and other EU member states which joined the Union after 2004 still push in order to be accepted in the program.

However, the biggest obstacle currently is the rejection rate in Romania, which grew to 37%, the biggest rate in the Union. The American legislation rules a 10% rejection rate in order for a country to be included in the program.

European pressures on US officials have been firmly rejected. American officials declared that visas are waived individually for each country and the European Union should not push for a bloc decision.

However, American officials accepted a dual layer talk: those issues pertaining to national problems will be discussed with the nations while EU problems, at the European level.