Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Reopening EU may bar Americans
Officials considering ban cite US failure to curb outbreak
BRUSSELS — European Union countries rushing to revive their economies and reopen their borders after months of coronavirus restrictions are prepared to block Americans from entering because the United States has failed to control the scourge, according to draft lists of acceptable travelers seen by The New York Times.
That prospect, which would lump American visitors in with Russians and Brazilians as unwelcome, is a stinging blow to American prestige in the world and a repudiation of President Donald Trump’s handling of the virus in the United States, which has more than 2.3 million cases and over 120,000 deaths, more than any other country.
European nations are haggling over two potential lists of acceptable visitors based on how countries are faring with the coronavirus pandemic. Both include China, as well as developing nations like Cuba, Uganda and Vietnam.
Travelers from the U.S. and the rest of the world have been excluded from visiting the European Union — with few exceptions mostly for repatriations or “essential travel” — since mid-March. But a final decision on reopening the borders is expected early next week, before the bloc reopens July 1.
A prohibition of Americans by Brussels partly reflects the shifting pattern of the pandemic.
In March, when Europe was the epicenter, Trump infuriated European leaders when he banned citizens from most EU countries from traveling to the United States. Trump justified the move as necessary to protect the United States, which at the time had roughly 1,100 coronavirus cases and 38 deaths.
In late May and early June, Trump hinted that some restrictions would be lifted, but nothing has happened. Today, Europe has largely curbed the outbreak, even as the United States has seen more infection surges just in the past week.
Prohibiting American travelers from entering the European Union would have significant economic,
cultural and geopolitical ramifications. Millions of American tourists visit Europe every summer. Business travel is common, given the huge economic ties between the United States and the EU.
The draft lists were shared with the Times by an official involved in the talks and confirmed by another official involved in the talks. Two additional EU officials confirmed the content of the lists as well the details of the negotiations to shape and finalize them. All of the officials gave the information on condition of anonymity because the issue is politically delicate.
The forging of a common list of outsiders who can enter the bloc is part of an effort by the European Union to fully reopen internal borders among its 27 member states. Free travel and trade among members is a core principle of the bloc — one that has been badly disrupted during the pandemic.
Countries on the EU draft lists have been selected as safe based on a combination of epidemiological criteria. The benchmark is the EU average number of new infections — over the past 14 days — per 100,000 people, which is currently 16 for the bloc. The comparable number for the United States is 107, while Brazil’s is 190, and Russia’s is 80, according to a Times database.
Once diplomats agree on a final list, it will be presented as a recommendation early next week before July 1. The EU can’t force members to adopt it, but European officials warn that failure of any of the 27 members to stick to it could lead to the reintroduction of borders within the bloc.
European officials said the list would be revised every two weeks to reflect new realities around the world as nations see the virus ebb and flow.
The process of agreeing on it has been challenging, with diplomats from all European member states hunkering down for multiple hourslong meetings for the past few weeks.
Officials and diplomats were poring over two versions of the safe list and were scheduled to meet again Wednesday to continue sparring over the details.
One list contains 47 countries and includes only those nations with an infection rate lower than the EU average. The other longer list has 54 countries and also includes those nations with slightly worse case rates than the EU average, going up to 20 new cases per 100,000 people.
The existing restrictions on nonessential travel to all 27 member states plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland were introduced March 16 and extended twice until July 1, in a bid to contain the virus as the continent entered a three-month confinement.
“Discussions are happening very intensively,” to reach consensus in time for July 1, said Adalbert Jahnz, a spokesman for the European Commission, the bloc’s executive branch.
The EU agency for infectious diseases, the European Center for Disease
Prevention and Control, warned negotiators that the case numbers were so dependent on the level of truthfulness and testing in each country that it was hard to vouch for them, officials taking part in the talks said.
China, for example, has been accused of withholding information and manipulating the numbers of infections released to the public. In parts of the developing world, case numbers are low, but it’s hard to determine whether they paint an accurate picture given limited testing.