EU votes to introduce mandatory visas for US citizens

US citizens will no longer be able to travel to the European Union without a visa, after the EU's civil liberties committee voted to block free access to to its member states in response to the failure of the US to agree to a similar agreement with five European countries.

MEPs called on Washington to grant visa-free conditions to citizens fo Bulgaria, Croatia, Poland, Romania and Cyprus, as it does to the other 23 member states of the EU.

A visa waiver program which is currently in place allows US nationals to travel freely to any of the bloc nations, but the European Parliament vote on Friday now refers the policy to the European Commission.

A report published by the Commission in December said the EU was working towards a resolution of the visa standoff and "using all opportunities to explore the way ahead and all options or necessary actions to be taken to achieve this objective."

The US Department of Homeland Security has claimed that the five European nations concerned had not been upholding the requirements set out under the reciprocal agreement.

UK immigration minister Robert Goodwill called on the Eu to introduce an ESTA-style system for European travellers to the United States.

"British people are now used to the US ESTA scheme and, therefore, we view with interest how the European scheme might develop and what similarities, and differences, there may be to the US scheme," Mr Goodwill said.

"This type of scheme is generally there to help enhance security. To get to know as much as possible about the people who are intending to travel."