Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-05-21-Speech-1-061-000"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20120521.15.1-061-000"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Madam President, the issue of visa non-reciprocity continues to be a significant irritant in EU-Canada relations. Canada continues, as you know, to maintain the visa requirement for the citizens of Bulgaria and Romania, and also reintroduced it for Czech citizens over two years ago. This is an issue we have raised numerous times in the course of the contacts we have with Canada, on every relevant occasion and at all levels, in order to try to find a solution in partnership with the Member States affected.
The EU is the number one source region for asylum applications in Canada. This is, of course, a serious concern, and we know it could have potential negative effects on the successful conclusion and ratification of several important agreements with Canada, such as the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and the Strategic Partnership Agreement.
Visa-free travel between the EU and Canada does not fall within the scope of the CETA negotiations, and CETA has not been directly used as a way of putting pressure on Canada. However, the EU negotiators have repeatedly, in the margins of the negotiations, made it clear to their Canadian counterparts that this issue is important for the EU, and decisive for the Member States concerned. It has been pointed out to the Canadian negotiators that such measures are in contradiction with the spirit of an agreement like the CETA, which tries to bring the EU and Canada more closely together.
The Commission welcomes the draft asylum reform proposed in Canada. Once this is adopted and in force, it should act as a deterrent to unfounded applications and lead Canada to lift the visa requirement for Czech citizens. We are ready to explore with Canada, in close cooperation with the Member States concerned, possible additional measures to help reduce unfounded asylum applications, and we plan to set up a joint working group on this issue. In the case of Romania and Bulgaria, full accession to the Schengen area will be an important factor with regard to Canada’s position on visas. The Commission will shortly present its seventh visa reciprocity report. This will include the Canadian issue and will set out the future approach.
Our previous report, in 2010, concluded that the EU was ‘confronted with the limits’ of the existing reciprocity mechanism. In the ongoing negotiations on the amendment of Regulation No 539/2001, the Commission fully supports improvements to the reciprocity mechanism to ensure solidarity among the Member States, provided that these are legally and institutionally sound and do not conflict with the Commission’s right of initiative.
A better reciprocity mechanism should enable the EU to exert quicker and more sustained influence over relevant third countries. All existing countries would be re-examined by the Commission under this new, more efficient mechanism. The Commission hopes that the legislative negotiations on all aspects of the proposal will proceed quickly, allowing agreement to be reached in the course of the Danish Presidency."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata | |
| lpv:videoURI |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples