The EU Agrees to Open Up for Travelers

The European Council met today and decided to update its travel restrictions from countries outside the EU based on people’s vaccine status.

The news comes from a report in The Washington Post.

“Today E.U. ambassadors agreed to update the approach to travel from outside the European Union,” Wigand told reporters. The European Council “now recommends that member states ease some restrictions, in particular for those vaccinated with an EU-authorized vaccine.”

This means certain vaccines available in certain countries would grant acceptance to travel in the EU. For example, people who had vaccines available in the US would be allowed entry into Europe; however, vaccines being created and administered in China and Russia would not.

The EU has been working towards vaccinating its own population. Inside the EU member states, 237.5 million vaccines have been delivered, 173.3 million administered, and 31.8 million people have received at least 1 dose.

The EU member states consists of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.

It is important to note, the United Kingdom is not included in the EU as it chose to withdrawal in 2020, and these travel guidelines would not reflect traveling to those countries including England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.

The EU is also creating a list of countries they regard as having their COVID-19 incidence rates under control, which would mean all travelers from these countries could travel to the EU no matter their individual vaccination status.

While this new travel guidance has not been formally adopted there does not appear to be any roadblocks ahead for it.