Canada asked to make Canada-visa free travel for EU citizens
by Harleen Kaur - May 8, 2010
Canada, 8th May: Canada is being asked by the European Parliament to drop requirement of Canadian visa for citizens of Romania, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic thus allowing Canada-visa free travel for all states of EU (European Nation).
The issue of requirement of Canadian visa for Czech citizens is proving to be a big hurdle in the way of negotiations for free trade with the EU. This was revealed in a resolution during the EU-Canada summit being held in Brussels.
European negotiators have been asking to address the issue at the earliest. Although, the initial rounds of negotiation have passed on smoothly, however, it still has some contentious issues to be addressed in the coming rounds.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has been questioned about the decision of his government regarding stricter travel norms for two countries last year. But, the issue was not linked directly by European officials with the discussions involving multibillion-dollar trade.
Canada had reinstated requirement of Canada visas for all Czech nationals on July 2009 following a large number of applicants from Central European nation seeking asylum in Canada. Prior to this, there has been a visa-free regime between Canada and Czech Republic for a period of almost two years from 2007 till July 2009.
Meanwhile, the step of opening up of a Canada visa office at the Canada Embassy in Prague in December 2009 was welcomed by the European Parliamentarians. Czech Republic did not have any Canada visa service forcing Czech nationals to approach Vienna for seeking Canadian visas.
At EU-Canada summit in Brussels, both parties, namely, EU leaders and Canadian PM Harper have reiterated their commitment to resolve all the obstacles in the way of the common objective of lifting requirement of Canada visa for traveling to Canada by EU citizens at the earliest.
Although, Harper hopes to lift the restrictions at the earliest, but he stated that legislation for improved immigration will be required to be introduced before the restrictions could be lifted. It may be worth mentioned that Ottawa is interested in concluding the deal with the EU by 2011 since it will give a big boost to the annual GDP of Canada by nearly $12 billion.
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