Transatlantic Visa Politics

Abstract:     
After British national Richard Reid boarded a transatlantic flight with only his passport and then tried to detonate a bomb in his shoes, members of Congress called for the elimination of the US Visa Waiver Program (VWP) that enabled nationals of 27 states (including 15 EU member states) to travel to the US without a visa. In contrast, during a 2006 trip, President Bush argued that Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania should be allowed into the VWP because they joined the US in the “coalition of the willing” to fight the “war on terrorism” in Iraq. Instead of eliminating the VWP or adding new states to the existing program, the Congress and President Bush agreed to reform it with August 2007 legislation implementing the 9/11 Commission recommendations. VWP reform demonstrates the political tensions emerging from conflicting objectives of increasing homeland security vs. satisfying allies and facilitating travel desired by economic interest groups. This paper examines the politics and diplomacy of recent US visa policy reforms, specifically the transgovernmental relations between the US Department of Homeland Security and EU member state interior ministries and the European Commission; considers the prospects for US-EU cooperation to maintain visa-free transatlantic travel while at the same time increasing security; and explains how implementation of VWP reform legislation is changing international norms on passports and border inspections.

Keywords: visa policy, transatlantic relations

Working Paper Series