EU to negotiate visa-free travel to United States

18 April 2008

LUXEMBOURG- EU interior ministers gave a mandate on Friday to the European Commission to negotiate the conditions for visa-free travel to the United States for all of the bloc's citizens, its Slovenian presidency said.

Most older EU states are already part of a U.S. visa waiver scheme, but Greece and most of the 12 mainly ex-communist nations who have joined the bloc since 2004 are not.

Washington has sought bilateral deals with some countries that do not enjoy visa-free U.S. travel, rather than dealing with the European Union as a whole, fuelling tensions.

The mandate will allow the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, to negotiate in the name of the entire 27-nation bloc and to sound out Washington about its demands for a deal.

"We are open to some demands, but we want reciprocity," French Interior Minister Michele Alliot Marie said.