The European Union took a step toward relaxing travel rules for tourists from outside the 27-nation bloc Wednesday when EU ambassadors agreed on measures to allow in fully vaccinated visitors.
The ambassadors also agreed to ease the criteria needed for nations to be considered COVID-19 safe and from which all tourists can travel, depending on their coronavirus and vaccination status. Under the existing criteria, the list includes only seven nations.
The EU imposed strict measures last year to contain COVID-19 outbreaks but the bloc's 27 ambassadors now say many of those restrictions on nonessential travel should be eased. Specifically, tourists from outside the bloc who have been fully vaccinated should be allowed in.
The European Council “will now recommend that member states ease some of the current restrictions" for those who have been vaccinated, said EU Commission spokesman Christian Wigand. He didn’t give a precise date for when the borders will reopen since EU countries have yet to formally approve the measures. It will be up to member states which public health restrictions can be waived for travelers.
Feeling out of the loop? We'll catch you up on the Chicago news you need to know. Sign up for the weekly Chicago Catch-Up newsletter here.
“The council should also soon expand the list of non-EU countries with a good epidemiological situation from where travel is permitted,” said Wigand. The EU's European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control is to give advice on the list.
The relaxation of rules was proposed earlier this month by the European Commission, which said entry should be granted to all those fully vaccinated with EU-authorized shots. Coronavirus vaccines authorized by the European Medicines Agency, the bloc’s drug regulator, include Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson. The EMA hasn't approved any vaccines from Russia or China as of yet but is looking at data for Russia’s Sputnik V jab.
The executive commission also proposed permitting EU member nations to decide individually whether to allow in travelers immunized with vaccines approved by the World Health Organization for emergency use, which include the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine.
Wigand said ambassadors also agreed on an “emergency brake" mechanism designed to stop dangerous virus variants from entering EU nations through quickly enacted travel limits if the infection situation deteriorates in a non-EU country.
Once the non-binding measures are approved, EU countries will keep the possibility to impose restrictive measures on tourists such as PCR tests or quarantines.
EU nations have been struggling throughout the pandemic to prop up their vital tourism industries and hope to recover some income over the peak summer season.
Greece, which is heavily reliant on tourism, has already lifted quarantine restrictions for the U.S., Britain, Israel, and other non-EU countries as negotiations between governments and EU lawmakers to introduce COVID-19 certificates aimed at facilitating travel across the region this summer continue. A deal is required by end of the month to ensure the system will be up and running by the end of June.
