The European Council released official information on Monday confirming reports that the United States, along with four additional countries would be removed from the region's 'safe list' of countries from which travelers arriving in the 27-member block would not require quarantine or testing. Reuters had reported on Friday that the European Union had begun the process to remove the United States from the list, reinstating travel restrictions and barring non-essential travel from the U.S. The New York Times corroborated the report on Sunday.
According to a press release on the consilium.europa.eu website, "the
Council updated the list of countries, special administrative regions
and other entities and territorial authorities for which travel
restrictions should be lifted. In particular, Israel, Kosovo, Lebanon, Montenegro, the Republic of North Macedonia and the United States of America were removed from the list."
The removal does not automatically deploy the restrictions recommended by the European Council, and, indeed, does not mandate them among EU member states. Each country will have latitude to reimpose whatever
restrictions they choose, or none at all, particularly toward vaccinated travelers.
The site reads, "Non-essential travel to the EU from countries or entities not listed in
Annex I [editor's note: the 'safe list] is subject to temporary travel restriction. This is without
prejudice to the possibility for member states to lift the temporary
restriction on non-essential travel to the EU for fully vaccinated
travellers."
Despite the EU opening travel
to U.S. travelers in June, the U.S. has not reciprocated and remains
closed to EU travelers. The U.S. Travel Association added its voice to those speaking out about the recommendations and about the continued disposition of the U.S. to disallow travel from a major source of tourism and business travel.
"This is a disappointing development following
the boost in inbound visitation by vaccinated travelers that many EU countries
experienced this summer. It’s a setback despite the uptake in vaccinations—the
tool that’s highly effective against the variants... on the rise on both
sides of the Atlantic," said EVP of public affairs and policy Tori Emerson Barnes.
“Travel is a crucial component of the global
economy and will be necessary for a full recovery from the economic devastation
of the pandemic. We encourage the E.U. to remain open to vaccinated Americans,
and likewise urge the United States to take immediate steps to begin welcoming
vaccinated individuals and restoring our travel economy.”
Countries designated as 'safe' by the EU have maintained infection rates of 75 or less per 100,000 people. The recent surge of the delta variant in the U.S. has pushed number well above that rate to 328 per 100,000, according to Reuters Covid-19 tracker.
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Monday, Aug. 30, 4:44pm: This article has been updated to reflect official statements of the European Council as well as comments from the United States Travel Association.