EU to open doors for vaccinated foreigners

BRUSSELS: European Union countries have agreed to ease the travel restrictions due to COVID-19 on Wednesday. This is to be noticed that this decision was taken ahead of the summer tourist season, which brings non-EU visitors to Europe.

This move by European Union could open the bloc’s EU visa doors to all Britons and to vaccinated Americans.

Ambassadors from the 27 EU countries approved a European Commission proposal from May 3 to relax the criteria to regulate “safe” countries and to let in completely vaccinated tourists from the world, EU sources said.

They are expected to set a new list this week or early next week. Based on data from the European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Britain and a number of other countries would meet the new criteria.

Whereas the United States would not, although Americans with proof of vaccination would be welcomed.

One EU diplomat stated that the cases of the Indian variant in Britain would need to be taken into account, although individual EU countries are already setting their own policies. on the contrary Portugal lifted a four-month travel ban on British tourists on Monday.

Under the present limitations, people from only seven countries, including Australia, Israel, and Singapore, shall be allowed to enter the EU on holiday, regardless of whether they have been vaccinated.

The foremost standard is that there should be no more than 25 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people in the previous 14 days. The trend should be stable or decreasing and there should be a sufficient number of tests, which would need to show a minimum percentage of negative tests. Whereas variants of concern can be taken into account.

The Commission proposed raising the case rate to 100. The EU ambassadors opted instead for 75. For vaccinated people to gain access, they would need to have received an EU-approved version of the vaccine, with those with a World Health Organization emergency listing being considered.

These people should have received final doses at least 14 days before travel.

Children should also be able to travel with vaccinated parents.

An emergency brake could be used temporarily to stop all but essential travel from a particular country to limit the risk of more contagious coronavirus variants entering the EU. Such a brake has been proposed for India.

The EU plan covers countries of the border-free Schengen area, including non-EU members Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland, but not the non-Schengen EU member Ireland.