EU takes US off safe travel list, backs restrictions

The European Union recommended Monday that its 27 nationsreinstate restrictions on tourists from the US because of rising coronavirusinfections there, but member countries will keep the option of allowing fullyvaccinated US travellers in.

The decision by the European Council to remove the US from asafe list of countries for nonessential travel reverses the advice that it gavein June, when the bloc recommended lifting restrictions on all US travellersbefore the summer tourism season.

The EU’s decision reflects growing anxiety that the rampantspread of the virus in the U.S. could jump to Europe at a time when Americansare allowed to travel to the continent. Both the EU and the U.S. have facedrising infections this summer, driven by the more contagious delta variant.

The guidance issued Monday is nonbinding, however. Americantourists should expect a mishmash of travel rules across the continent sincethe EU has no unified COVID-19 tourism policy and national EU governments havethe authority to decide whether or how they keep their borders open during thepandemic.

More than 15 million Americans a year visited Europe beforethe coronavirus crisis, and new travel restrictions could cost Europeanbusinesses billions in lost travel revenues, especially in tourism-reliantcountries like Croatia, which has been surprised by packed beaches and hotelsthis summer.

“Nonessential travel to the EU from countries or entitiesnot listed (on the safe list) ... is subject to temporary travel restriction,”the council said in a statement. “This is without prejudice to the possibilityfor member states to lift the temporary restriction on nonessential travel tothe EU for fully vaccinated travellers.”

US travellers would have to be immunized with one of thevaccines approved by the bloc, which includes Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca andJohnson&Johnson.

Possible restrictions on US travellers could includequarantines, further testing requirements upon arrival or even a total ban onall nonessential travel from the US

In Washington, White House press secretary Jen Psakistressed Monday that the EU travel restrictions applied to the unvaccinated,adding that “the fastest path to reopening travel is for people to getvaccinated, to mask up and slow the spread of the deadly virus.”

Paski told reporters that the US government is workingacross federal agencies to develop its own policy for international travel,with the possibility of strengthening testing protocols and potentiallyensuring that foreign visitors are fully vaccinated. But she said no finaldecision has been made yet.

The EU recommendation doesn’t apply to Britain, whichformally left the EU at the beginning of the year and opened its borders tofully vaccinated travelers from the US earlier this month.

The United States remains on Britain’s “amber” travel list,meaning that fully vaccinated adults arriving from the U.S. to the UK don’thave to self-isolate. A negative COVID-19 test within three days beforearriving in the UK is required and another negative test is needed two daysafter arriving.

The EU also removed Israel, Kosovo, Lebanon, Montenegro andNorth Macedonia from the safe travel list on Monday.

Meanwhile, the United States has yet to reopen its ownborders to EU tourists, despite calls from the bloc to do so. Adalbert Jahnz,the European Commission spokesperson for home affairs, said Monday that theEU’s executive arm remained in discussions with the Biden administration but sofar both sides have failed to find a reciprocal approach.