Decision today on EU travel ban for USA

Americans can say goodbye to this year’s European vacation plans. The EU is expected to officially announce an EU travel ban for USA travelers.

Yes, today is decision day for who may or may not fly into the EU. Non-essential travel to the EU has been banned since mid-March. Borders begin opening July 1. But not for everyone! They are expected to remain shuttered to Americans. It’s all because of the troubling rate of COVID-19 and the country’s inability to get the virus under control.

Decision delayed, expected today

A decision on which countries could travel to the EU was expected on Saturday, but some member states asked for more time to deliberate.

So, who can travel to the EU from July 1? The proposed list includes 14 countries. They are:

• Algeria
• Australia
• Canada
• Georgia
• Japan
• Montenegro
• Morocco
• New Zealand
• Rwanda
• Serbia
• South Korea
• Thailand
• Tunisia 
• Uruguay 

According to the Brussels Times, China will be added — if it allows reciprocal travel for EU travelers.

The EU also will open its borders to Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican, starting July 1, 2020.

How to make “the list”

The EU proposal established clear epidemiological criteria requirements for entrance to the region. New cases of Covid-19 must be close to or below 16 per 100,000 inhabitants over the last 14 days. The proposal also evaluates what a nation is doing in the battle against the pandemic, including testing practices and reduction of cases. Clearly, the US didn’t make the grade.

Covid-19 means EU travel ban for US

There have been more than 2.5 million cases of Covid-19 in the US and more than 125,000 deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The latest CDC statistics show 764 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. That is significantly higher than what the EU proposes for entrance to the region.

Border control recommendation

Euroactiv reports that the decision coming out of Brussels will be a recommendation since “border control remains a national competence and a limited number of flights to and from banned countries have continued throughout the crisis.”