EU takes US off safe travel list, backs travel restrictions

The European Union recommended Monday that its 27 nations reinstate restrictions on tourists from the U.S. because of rising coronavirus infections there. The decision by the European Council to remove the U.S. from a safe list of countries for nonessential travel reverses advice that it gave in June, when the bloc recommended lifting restrictions on U.S. travelers before the summer tourism season.

The guidance is nonbinding, however, and U.S. travelers should expect a mishmash of travel rules across the continent.

The EU also removed Israel, Kosovo, Lebanon, Montenegro and North Macedonia from the safe travel list.

The United States has yet to reopen its own borders to EU tourists, despite calls from the bloc for the Biden administration to lift its ban.