Security concerns create EU-US diplomatic row

America’s security concerns due to terrorism are having unwanted side effects in relations with the EU. Handelsblatt, the German newspaper is reporting that visa requirements for some EU citizens is causing the EU to retaliate with visa requirements of its own for U.S. diplomats.

The U.S. has definitely become more stringent since 9/11 regarding foreigners. Security concerns are probably behind the recent prosecution of UBS bankers on tax evasion. The U.S. government wants to end centuries-old Swiss banking secrecy in its fight against terrorism.

With fingerprinting for foreign visitors and passenger lists for jets coming from the EU, has the so-called War on Terror gone too far? Is the U.S. becoming xenophobic? If so, what does this mean for the U.S. in attracting foreign investment?

Below is the article and my translation.

My translation:

Controversy over immigration regulations

EU threatens U.S. with visa requirements for diplomats

If Washington does not allow all EU citizens to enter the U.S. without a visa as promised, the EU will create tougher rules in turn: The Commission will propose that diplomats from the U.S. require a visa from 2009.

Travellers from twelve EU countries still must apply for a visa for the United States, the EU Commission in Brussels said on Wednesday. This is not acceptable. At the EU-U.S. summit in June, the U.S. pledged to take more EU countries into the visa-waiver pilot program. The Greeks and Europeans from eleven of the twelve Eastern European states which joined the EU after 2004 must jump over these bureaucratic hurdles. Washington justifies this citing security requirements that must be met. “It is unacceptable that nationals of certain countries can travel to the EU without a visa, but these countries hold to the visa requirement for citizens of some EU member states,” EU Justice Commissioner Jacques Barrot criticized.

The U.S. government had forged bilateral agreements with various eastern European countries. This has caused conflict with the EU, as it wants to enforce uniform treatment of all 27 member member states.

Original:

EU droht USA mit Visumpflicht für Diplomaten

Sollte Washington nicht wie versprochen allen EU-Bürgern die Einreise ohne formelle Erlaubnis ermöglichen, wird die EU ihrerseits härtere Bandagen anlegen: Die Kommission will für Diplomaten aus den USA eine Visumpflicht ab 2009 vorschlagen.

Nach wie vor müssten Reisende aus zwölf EU-Ländern für die Vereinigten Staaten ein Visum beantragen, erklärte die EU-Kommission am Mittwoch in Brüssel. Das sei nicht akzeptabel. Auf dem EU-USA-Gipfel im Juni hätten die USA zugesagt, weitere EU-Länder in das Programm für visumfreies Reisen aufzunehmen.

Die bürokratischen Hürden müssen Europäer aus elf der zwölf seit 2004 in die EU aufgenommen Staaten Osteuropas sowie die Griechen in Kauf nehmen. Washington rechtfertigt das mit Sicherheitsanforderungen, die erfüllt sein müssten. „Es ist nicht hinnehmbar, dass Staatsangehörige bestimmter Drittländer ohne Visum in die EU reisen können, aber diese Länder für die Bürger einiger EU-Mitgliedstaaten an der Visumpflicht festhalten“, kritisierte EU-Justizkommissar Jacques Barrot.

Die US-Regierung hatte mit einzelnen osteuropäischen EU-Ländern bilaterale Abkommen geschlossen. Das sorgte in der EU, die eine einheitliche Behandlung aller 27 Mitgliedsstaaten durchsetzen will, für Streit.

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