The European Parliament’s Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee (LIBE) on Thursday called on the European Union to waive the short-stay visa requirement for travelers from Ecuador and Oman, an advantage that Brussels proposes to grant to Kuwait and Qatar and which MEPs are calling for to be extended to these two other destinations.
The report, which still requires the approval of the plenary to be ratified as a negotiating position of the European Parliament, defends the «commitment» of Ecuador with Human Rights and considers that the conditions are given to free their tourists from consular procedures to travel to the EU for periods of up to 90 days.
However, MEPs point out that the country must still improve on issues such as prison conditions, women’s rights and the rights of indigenous people and refugees, among other challenges.
The European Commission’s initial proposal is to extend the list of third countries exempt from short-stay visas to include only Kuwait and Qatar, and MEPs are pushing for this gesture to be extended to Ecuador and Oman.
In the case of Kuwait and Qatar, they also point out that together with Oman they raise doubts regarding the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms, so they express their concern and ask for annual reviews and safeguards to suspend the agreements in case of regression in these areas.
The MEPs express particular concern in areas such as the rights of workers, women and groups such as LGTBIQ+, as well as the risk to freedom of worship, freedom of expression and assembly and cases of torture. In the case of Kuwait, in particular, they call for a moratorium on the death penalty before closing the pact to suspend the visa policy.
If the European Parliament ratifies this position in a forthcoming plenary session, its negotiators will be able to begin talks with the EU-27. Once the European position is agreed, it will be up to the European Commission, on behalf of the EU, to negotiate bilateral agreements with the acceding countries.
