EU proposes reopening to vaccinated travelers
BRUSSELS — The European Union took a crucial step Monday toward reopening its borders to vaccinated travelers after the bloc’s executive arm released a plan for allowing journeys to resume after more than a year of stringent coronavirus restrictions.
The European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union, proposed that the 27 member countries reopen their borders to all travelers who have been fully vaccinated with shots approved by the bloc’s medicine regulator or by the World Health Organization. The commission also outlined other, looser, pandemic-related conditions that should permit people to travel.
“Time to revive EU tourism industry and for crossborder friendships to rekindle — safely,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.
The proposal would see more regular travel to the bloc gradually restart in time for the summer tourism season, which provides economic lifeblood for several member states. The plans are an important moment in Europe’s efforts to return to a semblance of normalcy after more than a year of strict limitations.
Travel from outside the bloc was halted almost entirely last spring and only restored tentatively for a handful of exceptions last summer. The measures separated families, hobbled the tourism and aviation sectors and brought business travel to an almost total halt.
The policy switch was first previewed by von der Leyen in an interview with the New York Times last month, during which she said that vaccinated Americans should be able to visit Europe this summer. The detailed proposal laid out Monday also confirmed von der Leyen’s earlier statements about the important role that the mutual recognition of vaccination certificates will play in resuming international travel.
To pass, the proposal released Monday will require the backing of a majority of member states, which it is likely to receive late this month or in early June. Still, individual member countries retain a good deal of sovereignty around health policy, so each state will probably use that leeway to tailor the travel measures further.
For example, some countries that greatly depend on visitors for income and jobs, such as Greece and Spain, already have moved to reopen borders even before the European Union adopts any new, blocwide policy. Others, especially in the continent’s north, could maintain more stringent regulations because they don’t stand to gain as much from loosened travel rules for the summer.
Even if the proposal is adopted by EU countries, the changes would not necessarily mean a simple or predictable set of rules for visitors, and spontaneous travel to Europe could still be far off.
For unvaccinated travelers, the conditions in their country of origin, a negative PCR test and quarantine are likely to continue to play a deciding role in whether they can visit.