Europe prepares to restart travel with rest of world in July

European Union regulators proposed to ease a pandemic-induced ban on most travel to the bloc as of July 1 while leaving the details to be worked out later this month.

A curb on non-essential travel to the EU is due to lapse on June 15 after being introduced in mid-March for 30 days and extended twice as Europe stepped up the fight against the coronavirus.

The European Commission on Thursday recommended prolonging the external border closure for two more weeks. During that time, the commission said EU governments should draw up a common list of countries outside the bloc from which visitors would be allowed starting next month.

“While we will all have to remain careful, the time has come to make concrete preparations for lifting restrictions with countries whose health situation is similar to the EU’s,” European Home-Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson said in an emailed statement in Brussels.

Europe is trying to revive domestic economies as the summer tourist season gets underway while guarding against a second wave of infections. The commission has urged internal EU borders to be reopened before external ones.

“As travelers entering the EU can move freely from one country to another, it is crucial that member states coordinate their decisions on lifting travel restrictions,” the commission said on Thursday. “This is why member states should agree on a common list of non-EU countries for which travel restrictions can be lifted as of July 1, to be reviewed on a regular basis.”

The commission said the list should be based on “objective criteria” and “restrictions should be lifted first with countries whose epidemiological situation is similar to the EU average and where sufficient capabilities to deal with the virus are in place.”

On that basis, the commission said visitors from at least the western Balkan states of Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia should be allowed as of July 1.

The ban on non-essential travel to the EU has so far showcased voluntary coordination among member countries under the aegis of the commission, which formally has no decision-making power over the matter. Health policy in Europe is primarily a national responsibility.

Johansson said the plan for a gradual and coordinated opening of the EU’s external border could put the bloc’s unity over the travel restriction to the test.

“I should guess this is going to be a quite difficult road ahead to get this coordinated approach,” she told reporters in the Belgian capital.