Travel limits still debated, Pompeo says

BRUSSELS — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo played down concerns Thursday that the European Union might refuse to allow Americans into the 27-nation bloc because of the spread of the coronavirus in the United States.

The EU is considering how to lift restrictions on overseas travelers starting next week.

“It’s a challenge for all of us to decide how and when to open up our economies and our societies. Everybody’s trying to figure that out,” Pompeo said during a videoconference held by the German Marshall Fund think tank.

European nations appear on track to reopen their common borders by July 1. Their envoys to Brussels are debating what virus-related criteria should apply when lifting entry restrictions on travelers from outside the EU.

As the criteria are narrowed down, a list of countries whose citizens might be allowed in is being drawn up. The list would be updated every 14 days based on how the coronavirus is spreading around the world.

The EU’S executive commission recommends that “travel restrictions should not be lifted as regards third countries where the situation is worse” than the average in the 27 EU member countries plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

That is likely to rule out people living in the United States, where new coronavirus infections have surged to the highest level in two months.

Beyond epidemiological concerns, any country being considered would be expected to lift its own travel restrictions on visitors from all 31 European nations.

This would also rule out the U.S. In a March 11 decree, President Donald Trump suspended the entry of all people from Europe’s ID check-free travel area.

But Pompeo said it’s important for everyone to help “get our global economy back going again.”