The European Union has agreed to reopen its borders to fully vaccinated travelers

Representatives of the 27 member states of the European Union (EU) have reached an agreement that would allow entry into the common space for travelers from countries outside the bloc who are already fully vaccinated, European sources reported on Wednesday. .

With the approach of the boreal summer season, the ambassadors of the 27 countries approved a recommendation issued by the European Commission, whose application is not mandatory. The provisions would be adopted by ministers on Friday, the sources said.

Currently, non-essential travel is prohibited, with the exception of a small number of countries considered safe due to their low rate of COVID cases.

The proposal called for “to allow entry into the EU for non-essential reasons not only to all persons countries with a good epidemiological situationbut also to everyone who received the last recommended dose of a vaccine authorized by the EU “.

To the formulas approved by Brussels (Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Jannsen) could be added those which “have completed the process of inclusion in the list of emergency uses of the World Health Organization (WHO)”.

The last dose should have been applied at least 14 days before travel.

In addition, the requirement for the list of countries considered to have a good epidemiological situation could be relaxed, from 25 to 75 cases per 100,000 inhabitants for two weeks.

This would still exclude unvaccinated travelers from much of the world, but could allow travel, for example, from the UK, which is well advanced in its vaccination campaign.

It is the Member States, represented in the Council of the EU, that make decisions on their borders during the pandemic, even if they limit the freedom of movement guaranteed by the EU treaties.

(With information from AFP)

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