Brussels is poised to force US nationals to apply for visas for travel to Europe, in response to Washington refusing to allow all Europeans to travel to the States visa-free.

The European Commission on Tuesday considered whether Americans crossing the Atlantic should require additional travel documents, a move motivated by the stricter regulations the US imposes on some European citizens.

A spokesperson for the European Commission said it is now urging the European Parliament and Council "to urgently launch discussions and to take a position on the most appropriate way forward", given the "non-reciprocity" in visa requirements.

Visas are generally seen as negative by potential visitors

While the majority of EU citizens are able to travel to the US without a visa, under the Visa-Waiver Program (VWP), Washington imposes different rules on visitors from some central and eastern European member states, including Poland, Croatia, Cyprus, Bulgaria and Romania.

Incidentally, Canada also requires travellers from Romania and Bulgaria to apply for a visa. Brunei is also considered by the EU to offer non-reciprocity.

In 2014 Brussels asked its American counterparts to broaden its VWP within two years to include those countries, but to no avail. And now, it is looking to impose its own bureaucracy on the States.

“The deadline concerns the needs for the college [of commissioners] to take stock of the situation,” the FT quoted a spokesperson for the European Commission. “It will discuss the economic impact, the political impact and the impact on external relations with these counties. Then they will discuss the next possible steps.”

The need to apply for a visa to travel to a country is widely seen as a turn-off to potential visitors, given the extra cost and time an application requires. A country looking to boost its tourism industry will often look at loosening any existing visa requirements.

Travellers arrive at an US airport Credit: 2002 Getty Images/Joe Raedle

The EU strives for a common visa policy, which, for example, asks for visitors from India, China or Russia to obtain a visa before travelling, but not those from America, Canada or Australia. Britain and Ireland have opt-outs of the EU’s visa policy.

A final say on suspending the US’s membership to the VWP would be had by individual states and the European parliament.

Dimitris Avramopoulos, home affairs, migration and citizenship commissioner, said: "Visa reciprocity is a fundamental element of the EU's common visa policy. EU citizens rightly expect to travel without a visa to any third country whose citizens can enter the Schengen area visa-free.

"Today, the Commission has assessed the legal, political and economic consequences of a possible temporary suspension of the visa waiver for the US, Canada and Brunei and has asked for positions on the way forward from the European Parliament and Council."

The US further tested the EU’s patience earlier this year when it introduced rules meaning any EU national who had travelled to Iran, Iraq, Sudan or Syria in the last five years would not be able to enter the US under the VWP. This is despite the US trying to improve the arrival experience at American airports, and increase its visitor count to 100 million in five years.

A Europe-wide travel alert is currently in place at the US State Department warning visitors of a terror threat.