By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Americans have been barred from visiting the European Union (EU), to contain the spread in the 27-member bloc the coronavirus ravaging the United States where both deaths and cases are highest in the world.
The U.S. has 4 per cent of the world’s population (327 million) but 25 per cent of its coronavirus deaths (128,936) and 25 per cent of cases (2,691,229).
Also excluded from the EU are visitors from Brazil, which has the second highest death toll and cases; and China, from where the disease spread to the rest of the world in December 2019.
The EU named 14 countries whose citizens are deemed “safe” to be let in from July 1, despite the pandemic, the BBC reports.
On the current “safe” list, still likely to be amended, are Georgia, Montenegro, New Zealand, Serbia, Thailand, Uruguay, Australia, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, and Rwanda.
The EU is ready to add China if the Chinese government offers a reciprocal deal for EU travellers, diplomats say.
Many border controls have been lifted for EU citizens travelling inside the bloc.
Rules for United Kingdom travellers are part of the current Brexit negotiations. But UK nationals are still to be treated in the same way as EU citizens until the end of the Brexit transition period on December 31, the EU Commission says.
So during this period UK nationals and their family members are exempt from the EU’s temporary travel restriction.
EU nations in the 26-member Schengen zone normally allow passport-free border crossings for EU citizens, but national authorities have reimposed restrictions in this crisis.
The UK is currently negotiating temporary “air bridges” with several EU member states, so that coronavirus does not totally block summer holidays – the busiest season in Europe for tourism, which employs millions of people.
The EU procedure to formalise the list, and criteria by which countries are judged safe or not, are to be finalised by midday on Tuesday.
A qualified majority of EU countries – at least 55 per cent of the EU countries, representing 65 per cent of the EU population – have signed off on list.
There were splits between those such as Spain – wanting the boost of tourism, but preferring to play safe because they have been hit so hard by Covid-19 – and others like Greece and Portugal, which depend on tourism but are less scarred by the virus.
Decision not straightforward
You’d think it’d be quite straightforward, deciding which non-EU countries to consider “safe”. But it’s been a tortuous, divisive process, mixing politics and economics, as well as public health, the BBC adds.
Countries like Germany and Spain, horrified by the devastation of Covid-19, wanted to play it safe.
They pushed to have a short list of countries with low infection rates, a good health service and reliable health data.
But Greece and Portugal had other ideas. Anxious to boost their post-lockdown, flagging economies with tourism, and less scarred by widespread infection at the height of the pandemic, they wanted as long a list as possible.
Then came France, insisting on reciprocity. If a non-EU country was barring flights from the bloc, argued Paris, they shouldn’t appear on the list.
And finally: diplomatic considerations. How awkward for the EU to include some countries but not others. Thumbs up to visitors from Canada, Japan, and China from July 1 – if Beijing allows EU visitors entry – but not travellers from the U.S.
After days of haggling, the final list is an attempted compromise. Much metaphorical sweat, blood and tears for a list that is advisory only, open to exceptions and will be regularly tweaked and updated.
Last week reports said member states were assessing two different lists.
The Politico website said one covered countries with fewer than 16 Covid-19 cases per 100,000 people and the other with up to 20 cases, which would include Canada and Turkey. The list is expected to be revised every two weeks, so the U.S. could be added later.
Earlier this month the European Commission also stressed that reopening borders with non-EU states in the Western Balkans was a priority from July 1.
However, EU member Croatia said last week that travellers from Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia, and North Macedonia would all face 14-day self-isolation, because of an increase in infections.
Why Americans are barred
CNN reports that the EU formally agreed a set of recommendations that will allow travellers from outside the bloc to visit EU countries, months after it shut its external borders in response to the outbreak of Covid-19.
As had been widely expected, the list of 14 countries does not include the U.S., whose current Covid infection rate does not meet the criteria set by the EU for it to be considered a “safe country.”
The criteria requires that confirmed Covid cases in countries on the list are similar or below that of the EU’s per 100,000 citizens over the previous 14 days (starting from June 15).
Countries must also have a “stable or decreasing trend of new cases over this period in comparison to the previous 14 days,” while the EU will consider what measures countries are taking, such as contact tracing, and how reliable each nation’s data is.
The U.S. has not only the highest number of reported coronavirus infections of any nation, currently 2,693,736, but also the highest number of deaths, at 129,007 according to live up dates by worldometers.info.
Earlier this week, it was reported that at least 16 U.S. states were halting plans to reopen, as reported Covid infections surged across the country.
The EU list is expected to be reviewed every two weeks, however, EU diplomats were eager to stress on Tuesday that it was “highly unlikely” the criteria for inclusion would be altered.
This means U.S. infection rates will need to dramatically drop if Americans are to be allowed entry to European countries, just as the European tourism industry enters what are traditionally its peak months.
China, where the virus originated, is not on the initial list of 14, but the EU is willing to place it on that list if the Chinese government reciprocates and allows EU citizens to enter its borders.
Travelling exemptions
Travelers in countries that did not make the list can still enter the EU if they fall under the following exemptions
- EU citizens or family members of an EU citizen
- Long-term EU residents or family members
- Those with an “essential function or need,” such as diplomats, healthcare workers or certain agricultural workers.
While the recommendations and list of countries are clear, border control is something that is handled at a national level, rather than at an EU level in Brussels.
As the Council says, the recommendation “is not a legally binding instrument. The authorities of the member states remain responsible for implementing the content of the recommendation.”
However, it is not expected that member states will deviate from the recommendations in a direction that allows for more countries to be added to their lists.
The decision was delayed by more than two hours after at least two countries requested the deadline be pushed back, amid concerns about the risks of opening up.
EU sources told CNN that at least three countries had abstained on the recommendations for the same reasons.
EU officials had previously stressed that the decisions taken this week are not political, but based on science and aim only to protect citizens from the virus resurging across the continent.
However, those same officials await the response from U.S. President Donald Trump, who has previously attacked the EU on other issues such as trade and foreign policy, CNN adds.