When will Journey to Europe Open for totally vaccinated vacationers? Guests Wait!
CNN, New York Times and other major media outlets today announced the reopening of Europe for American travelers. What was not mentioned was the effective day and the approval process.
- The European Union is in the final stages of an agreement that would reopen Schengen countries and other countries to welcome visitors again.
- The agreement would initially only be available for fully vaccinated people through vaccinations approved by the EU.
- The effective date has not been set and is subject to approval from all EU Member States.
The European Union is in the final stages of reaching an agreement to reopen the European Union, including the Schengen area, to international visitors, including Americans, Canadians and others. Wednesday’s decision has yet to be officially confirmed by the EU states
Given the great advances in vaccination in countries like the US and Israel, the European Union would like to significantly relax entry restrictions from third countries. Tourists who are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus will soon be able to re-enter the state bloc more easily.
For them, the restrictions imposed at the beginning of the pandemic on non-essential entries should no longer apply after an agreement between the EU ambassadors, as the German press agency learned from several EU diplomats.
This should apply if the EU states also accept proof of vaccination for travel within the block of states.
The President and CEO of the US Travel Association, Roger Dow, made the following statement:
“The European Union’s risk-based, science-based plan to reopen international travel will hopefully inspire the US to heed the numerous demands for a plan and timeline for the safe reopening of our borders. The right conditions are in place: vaccinations are increasing, infections are decreasing, all incoming visitors are tested or required to show that they have recovered, and it is possible to determine vaccination status.
US Travel responded by saying:
“Vaccinated Americans can travel to other countries because EU governments know they are making major tourism expenditures and are sure to support economic recovery. The US is being removed from the UK and EU safety list because we have not made any headway to re-admit international visitors.
“The US has led the way in many aspects of managing the pandemic, but is lagging behind our global competitors in pursuing an international economic reopening. The millions of travel-related U.S. jobs lost in the pandemic will not return because of domestic travel alone. Hence, determining the path to resume the international visit is critical to an overall economic recovery. “
At the same time, the EU is working to make traveling within Europe easier with the help of a vaccination pass. However, the negotiations between the EU states and the European Parliament on Tuesday evening did not bring any results and will go into the next round on Thursday.
In order to protect themselves from the pandemic, all EU states except Ireland and the non-EU states Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland agreed in March 2020 on recommendations for a comprehensive stop for non-essential entries. The recommendations are not legally binding, but are seen as an important directional decision.
There are exceptions for family members, diplomats, and medical personnel. Last summer, the EU states then defined the conditions under which the entry of certain states with a good virus situation should be made easier. Seven third countries are currently on the corresponding “white list”.
The agreement reached on Wednesday now stipulates that vaccinated people can re-enter two weeks after the last vaccination if they can present a valid vaccination certificate.
It should also play a role whether vaccinated EU citizens can also travel to the third country in question. Vaccines approved in the EU should be accepted.
So far these are the four preparations from Biontech -0.13% / Pfizer, Moderna -2.34%, Johnson & Johnson -1.56% and Astrazeneca -0.46%. However, the EU countries can decide for themselves whether they should continue to impose test or quarantine obligations on vaccinated people. Some countries such as Greece allow people who have already been vaccinated from some third countries to enter the country without quarantine.
In the future, more people should be allowed to enter the country regardless of the vaccination. To this end, the EU states are loosening a criterion on the “white list”. The limit for the number of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days is to be raised from 25 to 75. Further criteria are, for example, the test rate and the positive rate in a country. In the coming days, the EU states will discuss separately from which countries entry will soon be easier under these conditions.
In the event that the corona situation in a country deteriorates dramatically within a short period of time, a kind of emergency brake is provided. This should especially be used for regions where there are virus variants of concern. Then, with a few exceptions, a strict freezing of the entry should be imposed immediately.
