The European Commission warns EU governments which like to deal with Washington-about air security measures in exchange for visa-free travel to the US. "No member state will be allowed to violate EU legislation. The European Commission is negotiating with the United States," EU commissioner Frattini said in the European Parliament beginning of March,"and it is not possible to abandon our EU legislation and our common criteria."
According to the commissioner, the mandate for the commission to negotiate with the US and which still needs to be cleared by EU interior ministers should make it clear to the US what the EU’s point of view is "We will not move from that even by an inch," Fratini said.
But it is clear that many governments don’t like to wait for the Commission. Estonia and Latvia have signed an MOU (memorandum of understanding) with the US to secure visa-free travel for their citizens to the United States. The Czech Republic already did so, while Slovakia says it will follow in April. Referring to the proposed mandate for the Commission, Slovak foreign minister Jan Kubis said that "the mandate should not stop bilateral negotiations."
According US officials, cited by Reuters news agency, "US law is very clear: Visa waiver is a bilateral issue, so we do intend to apply our law by continuing talks with individual countries."
Mr Frattini warned impatient member states against breaking the bloc's unity over the issue. "We should not allow ourselves be divided. He said that he believes "what the US is asking raises serious legal and political questions."
Czech centre-right MEP Jan Zahradil pointed to the fact that the Czech-American memorandum covers all the commission's reservations and does not breach any EU law.
Zita Plestinska, a centre-right Slovak, stressed that any progress toward visa-free regime with the US is "very important for Slovak citizens," while any legal action against an individual member state on the mater "would not a be a good signal especially during the ongoing ratification of the EU's newest treaty.”
