US, EU discuss restarting travel after bloc considers a ban

Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said the Trump administration is working with the European Union over how to restart travel suspended by the Covid-19 pandemic, even as the bloc weighs whether to exclude Americans from an initial reopening plan.

The U.S. doesn’t want to reopen in a way that “jeopardizes the United States from people traveling here and we certainly don’t want to cause problems anyplace else,” Pompeo told reporters Wednesday. He said he was confident a solution could be figured out in the coming weeks.

Pompeo’s remarks come as diplomats from the 27-nation EU begin developing criteria for lifting a curb on non-essential travel to the bloc as of July 1. Under benchmarks now under discussion, Americans would be excluded because cases in the U.S. have started rising sharply in several states, reversing a downturn from recent weeks.

Europe is trying to revive domestic economies as the summer tourist season gets underway while guarding against a second wave of infections.

One of the criteria up for discussion is “reciprocity,” which would mean U.S. citizens wouldn’t immediately be allowed into the EU because Europeans are still barred for health reasons from traveling in the other direction. It’s likely that this factor will be combined with other metrics, including the rate of new Covid-19 cases, when deciding whom to bar, according to an internal document seen by Bloomberg News.

“It’s important for the United States to get Europeans the capacity to travel back to the United States,” Pompeo said. “It’s very important for the Europeans to fully reconnect with the American economy as well.”