The European Commission is demanding that Canada lift visa requirements for new members of the European Union or face possible retaliation.
The commission executive is expected to issue a warning on Tuesday in a report to be presented to EU interior ministers.
The report, which was viewed by the Associated Press, is expected to call on Canada to begin allowing new EU members to travel in Canada without a visa.
By the end of the year, the commission would like Canada to extend visa-free travel to at least one more country and to show progress in eliminating visa requirements for others by the first half of next year.
AP cited the report as saying "appropriate steps could be considered" if Canada fails to follow the recommendations. There are currently eight new EU members that still require visas to travel to Canada.
However, the report stops short of listing specific steps the EU could take in retaliation.
The following EU countries still lack visa-free access to Canada:
- Bulgaria
- Czech Republic
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Hungary
- Poland
- Romania
- Slovakia
A diplomat from an EU country without visa-free access to Canada admitted to AP that the countries have few tools at their disposal to put pressure on Canada.
"Realistically, what measures can we take? We won't be able to agree on a visa regime for Canadians or any other measure. That would be counterproductive,'' the diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the report has not yet been made public.
Though Canada has added Cyprus, Malta, Estonia and Slovenia to the list of western European nations with visa-free access, similar access has been withheld from others.
That's left EU members such as Czech Republic and Hungary feeling that their citizens are being given limited access to Canada over unjustified immigration fears.
The report acknowledges the U.S. allows citizens of most western European countries and some other parts of the world to enter the country without visas and has taken steps to grant visa-free access to more countries.
However, it points out that the U.S. has also withheld full access to many newer EU member states. A new bill would grant access to more European countries, but would not go as far as the EU had hoped, AP reports.
The report does not suggest the possibility of taking retaliatory steps against the U.S.
With files from The Associated Press
