Europe opens its borders from June 1 to vaccinated Americans

USPA NEWS - The European Union agreed on Wednesday to open its external border to tourists vaccinated against COVID-19 from non-EU countries, including Americans, as of June 1. The 27 agreed to reopen their external border to vaccinated tourists from third countries that have vaccination programs that also have the approval of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), as is the case of the United States or the United Kingdom.

The main condition for vaccinated travelers to enter the EU is that they have received the full vaccination schedule (two doses in most vaccines on the market) at least 14 days before their trip, according to the agreement of the Member States reached at a meeting of ambassadors in Brussels. The agreement must be formalized at the level of ministers, probably this Thursday, at a scheduled meeting of those responsible for Trade, and will enter into force as of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Until the entry into force of the European Covid Certificate that the 27 finalize to reactivate tourism within the EU, this new condition for non-EU tourists can only be offered by Member States that are already considering vaccination to relax restrictions on Europeans. The purpose is to ensure that travelers from third countries will not enjoy privileged treatment with respect to the situation of Europeans, so the recommendation makes it clear that a Member State may only open its border to third parties if it is already taking into account the vaccines to lift quarantines or the requirement of PCR to Europeans.

Border management is a matter of exclusive competence of national governments, so what is agreed at the European level is a commitment to apply the same criteria in all the 27 countries, which does not prevent each country from deciding more criteria. strict. In this sense, the agreement indicates that in addition to the vaccines approved by the European Medicines Agency, the Member States may also authorize the entry of non-EU tourists immunized with other vaccines authorized by the World Health Organization (WHO).