Govt today proposing visas for EU short-term visitors - an apparent change from the Political Declaration it made in October, proposing to maintain visa-free travel for short-term visits. Will be reciprocated UK short-term visitors to the EU telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/…
"the parties aim to provide, through their domestic laws, for visa-free travel for short-term visits" - Revised political declaration, Oct 2019 
The 2018 political declaration had included "reciprocity, including visa-free travel for short-term visits"
The mutual aim of visa-free travel for short-term EU/UK visits in general was one way of incorporating the UK-Ireland Common Travel Area and commitment to no Irish border into future arrangements without creating a new headache over Irish border or UK/Ireland.
How would the new ESTA-style scheme work for Northern Ireland-Ireland, Northern Ireland-UK and the UK-Ireland Common Travel Area?
EU has a new ESTA-style visa system. It had agreed in principle a waiver for UK citizens visiting EU countries, conditional on reciprocity. Having negotiated that, UK govt appears to now be dropping its policy aim of UK citizens to visit EU visa-free
Provisional agreement, pending reciprocity
UK government white paper is against visas and in favour of a "minimum of bureaucracy". This points to an ESTA-style scheme instead of visas (which govt is today calling US-style visas) but not taking up the option for UK citizens to be exempt from new EU ESTA-style scheme.
