Ecuador not ready for visa waiver, says EU

The European Commission believes that Ecuador is not yet ready to benefit from the visa-free regime of the European Union (EU), said this Tuesday (13 Dec 2022) the European Commissioner for the Interior, Ylva Johansson.

“Significant progress has been made, but there are still important steps that have to be taken,” the authority said of Ecuador, which also noted that, according to the European Commission, neither Ecuador nor Oman “are ready for the liberalization of visas with the EU” and that is why Brussels “has not yet proposed” that they benefit from this regime.

Read also: Check out our coverage on Ecuador

In the case of Ecuador “there is a very high visa rejection rate” and that is a requirement that is taken into account when examining this procedure, the commissioner said.

He also specified that although legislators are free to put countries they consider “even if they have not been examined by the European Commission” on the visa-exempt list, the “best way” to proceed is “to have an adequate evaluation” by part of the Commission, as well as a formal proposal, and then proceed to adoption.

For his part, the Community Vice President, Margaritis Schinas, explained at a press conference that even if the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties proposed to include Ecuador or Oman in the visa exemption regime, “it will be the European Commission that will have to act from the beginning the evaluation”.

The EU currently has a visa-free regime in place with 61 third countries, two special administrative regions of China (Hong Kong and Macao) and one territorial authority not recognized as a State by at least one EU Member State (Taiwan).

Under this regime, third-country nationals with biometric passports can enter the Schengen area for short-term visa-free stays.

With information from EFE/DW