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Today's Paper | May 15, 2024

Updated 04 Mar, 2017 03:48pm

In tit-for-tat move, EU votes to end visa-free travel for Americans

The European Parliament on Friday voted to end visa-free travel for American citizens in the European Union, The Independent reported.

The decision made by the parliament's civil liberties committee follows the United States' failure to agree to visa-free travel of citizens of five EU countries, Romania, Poland, Cyprus, Bulgaria and Croatia, under a reciprocity agreement.

The European Commission had discovered three years earlier that the US was not meeting its obligations under the agreement, but has yet to take legal action regarding the matter.

The parliament's vote, if implemented, means that American citizens will have to apply for travel documents. It comes after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January banning all immigrants and visa holders from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States for 90 days.

The seven countries initially mentioned in the order were Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, but Iraq was recently dropped from the 'ban' list.

Correction: This article earlier stated that American citizens would have to apply for travel documents for the next 12 months following the vote. It is clarified that the vote, which only urges the European Commission to revoke the scheme in two months, is non-binding and a “delegated act” to bring the change into effect may be challenged by the European Parliament or the Council of the European Union. The error is regretted.

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