The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday it remained optimistic that Taiwan could become part of the Schengen Agreement’s short-term visa-waiver program even though the issue has been delayed because of a transition at the European Commission, the EU’s executive body, after the Lisbon Treaty came into force in December.
Having said last year that Taiwanese nationals were expected to receive visa-free privileges from the EU sometime between April and June this year, Chiu Jong-jen (邱仲仁), the director-general of the ministry’s Department of European Affairs, said at a press conference yesterday “there may be a delay.”
A new 27-member European Commission took office early last month after the Lisbon Treaty ratification process ended, succeeding the previous commission, whose mandate expired last October but continued under a temporary mandate until January.
The issue was “inadvertently” waylaid as a result of the passage of the Lisbon Treaty and the delay was not in connection with the issue per se, Chiu said.
Chiu said the new European Commission is supposed to continue to deliberate the issue from where the previous commission left off.
The new European Commission would not need to deal with the issue from scratch because it was already decided at the commission’s internal meeting last year that the EU would allow visa-free access to Taiwanese, Chiu said.
“Although [the visa] issue has been our priority, ... the new European Commission has been tied up with many other issues such as the Greece debt issue. At a later time everyone will know about this case and do what would have been done last October,” Chiu said.
BRITISH VISAS
In related news, the ministry reminded students that the UK government has announced new measures tightening loopholes in its student visa system.
The stricter student visa regulations will take effect from today.
The British Trade and Culture Office issued a press statement saying that details are available from the UK Visa Application Centre in Taiwan and at www.vfs-uk-tw.com.
The ministry also reminded people to demand an “I-INS” stamp when applying for a visa from Czech Economic and Cultural Office Taipei so they will be exempt from regulations requiring foreign nationals to present a health insurance certificate.
CHILE QUAKE
Meanwhile, the ministry said all Taiwanese expatriates in Chile were confirmed safe after two of the ministry’s staffers drove eight hours from Santiago to Concepcion to find the three Taiwanese that the ministry hadn’t been able to locate since a devastating earthquake struck the country on Saturday.
The ministry learned early yesterday morning from the two staffers that the three Taiwanese were safe and sound, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesman Henry Chen (陳銘政) said yesterday.
Chen said the country’s representative office in Santiago formed an emergency task force immediately after the earthquake and would continue to provide assistance to Taiwanese there.
The government will assess whether to increase the aid to Chile from the current US$200,000 as more information about the disaster becomes available, Chen said.
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