The European Union has cleared non-essential travel from the United States and 12 other countries

The Council of the European Union (EU), a body in which the countries of the community club are represented, Friday included the United States and 12 other countries on the list of epidemiologically safe states, whose citizens can travel in the EU for pleasure and not just for essential reasons.

The proposal to add the United States was raised by Portugal, the country which chairs the Council this semester, and was approved on Wednesday at a meeting of ambassadors of the Member States to the EU (Coreper).

Now the green light from the European institution entered into force with the publication of the updated list, which is revised every two weeks.

The other countries for which EU countries can gradually lift restrictions from this Friday are Albania, Australia, Israel, Japan, Lebanon, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Rwanda, Serbia, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand.

In addition, in a statement, the Council noted that it Non-essential travel is permitted from the Chinese Special Administrative Zones of Hong Kong and Macau, to which until now the principle of reciprocity was required, while this condition continues to be maintained for China.

In this way, the citizens of these regions They will be able to enter the EU whether or not the same conditions apply to Europeans traveling to them..

It is also recommended that you allow non-essential travel from Taiwan.

The EU had banned visitors from the United States and other countries considered to be at high risk during the pandemic, freezing the usual flow of visitors. In 2019 alone, more than 17 million people traveled to Europe from the United States.

The criteria for determining third countries for which travel restrictions should be lifted were updated on May 20.

In deciding which ones are included in this list, the epidemiological situation and the general response to COVID-19, as well as the reliability and availability of the information, are taken into account. For citizens of the countries on the list, each Member State decides whether or not to impose a quarantine on them upon their arrival on its territory.

(With information from EFE)

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