The European Council has announced its recommendation on the process of lifting restrictions on non-essential travel into the E.U. The Council has advised E.U. countries to allow travelers from Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay to enter starting July 1. Brazil, Russia, India and the United States are not on the first iteration of the list. China is on the list pending confirmation that E.U. travelers will be allowed to reciprocally enter Mainland China.
There are some exceptions for the countries where travel restrictions continue to apply listed in Annex II. These exceptions include E.U. citizens and their family members, long-term E.U. residents and their family members, and travelers with an essential function or need including “highly qualified third-country workers if their employment is necessary from an economic perspective and the work cannot be postponed or performed abroad.”
Please note that countries from where travel will be permitted have a COVID-19 infection rate similar to or lower than the E.U. average per 100,000 residents. Most visitors from the U.S. will remain banned from entering the E.U. because of the country’s rising infection rate. The average of 16 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the U.S. was used as a key threshold for deciding the countries to be included/excluded. Reciprocity with these allowed countries was also taken into account.
The list of permitted countries will be reviewed every two weeks. Countries may be added or removed, depending on local epidemiological developments.
GM will continue to monitor.
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