(CN) — The European Court of Justice backed the European Commission on Tuesday, ruling the executive body was not required to make U.S. citizens traveling to the EU get a visa despite a request from parliament.
The European Parliament re-upped a demand on the commission in 2020 to bring back visa requirements for U.S. travelers but the commission refused, citing political backlash. Parliament then complained to the Court of Justice that the commission had overstepped.
In principle, only countries that allow EU citizens visa-free travel enjoy the same benefit when entering the European Union. But the Luxembourg-based court concluded that the commission was within its right to decide which passport holders should be required to obtain a visa.
“The Commission … was not required to adopt the delegated act in question,” the 17-judge panel wrote.
Currently, EU citizens except those from Bulgaria, Cyprus and Romania can enter the U.S. without a visa and stay for 90 days. U.S. citizens enjoy the same freedom when traveling to the EU.
Parliament first raised the issue in 2014. At the time, citizens of Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Poland and Romania — all EU member states — needed a visa to enter the United States. Other countries with similar requirements — including Canada, Australia and Japan — eventually lifted requirements, but by 2017, Washington and Brussels had still failed to come to an agreement.
The parliament then passed a non-binding resolution, calling on the commission to force the same restrictions on U.S. citizens that the U.S. was imposing on some EU citizens. Since then, Poland and Croatia have been added to the U.S. visa waiver program.
The U.S. recently imposed new travel restrictions on citizens of Hungary over concerns that the identities of nearly 1 million foreigners granted Hungarian passports over nine years weren’t sufficiently verified, marking the only such limits among the 40 participating states in the visa waiver program.
The court’s Grand Chamber rejected the idea that any entry restrictions imposed by one country automatically trigger a reciprocal requirement. According to the ruling, the commission must consider several criteria when determining which countries get a visa waiver and which don’t, including the political and economic impact.
The commission did make an assessment of the impact of imposing a visa requirement and found it would have “significant negative impacts in a wide range of policy areas and sectors.”
Although the U.S. does not impose a visa requirement on citizens from the other 24 member states, EU nationals still need to obtain an Electronic System for Travel Authorization, or ESTA, to enter the United States. The ESTA costs $21 and is valid for two years.
The EU will impose a similar requirement on U.S. citizens starting in 2024. Citizens from all countries with visa waivers will need to fill out the European Travel Information and Authorisation System application. ETIAS will cost seven euros ($7.50) and is valid for three years.
Brussels and Washinton both claim that these pre-travel approvals are not visas, despite having similar requirements to a visa.
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