Member States Agree to Allow Vaccinated Tourists from Outside the EU

The 27 countries of the European Union will reopen to tourists from outside the EU, provided they have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus.

 

The ambassadors have agreed to the European Commission’s proposal to allow more travellers and relax entry conditions.

Pleasure trips to the EU are currently only possible for residents of a dozen ‘safe’ countries. The ambassadors determine on Friday with which countries the list can be expanded. This could increase by dozens more because the threshold for giving a non-EU country the green light, such as the number of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in two weeks, is lowered.

That number will be increased from 25 to 75. Necessary trips, for diplomats and doctors, for example, were and remain possible.

This is a recommendation from the committee. Member States can intervene quickly if things go wrong abroad, such as new, dangerous variants of the virus. With an ’emergency brake’, the EU countries must then be able to restrict travel from that country jointly.

Tourists who want to come to the EU must be able to show that they have been injected with one of the corona vaccines approved by the union.