EU to reopen borders, easing rules for travel

Brussels

EUROPEAN Union countries agreed to reopen their borders to nations and travellers deemed safe in the continent's most significant move yet to return to normalcy after a year of pandemic-induced restrictions.

Ambassadors from the EU's 27 member states agreed to allow vaccinated travellers into the bloc quarantine-free as well as people from countries that have controlled the Covid outbreak, meaning a 14-day new case rate of less than 75 per 100,000, according to two officials familiar with the decision.

The new rules could be formally approved later this week and can be implemented soon thereafter.

The decision comes just before the important summer tourist season, which helps prop up the economies of European countries such as Spain, Italy, Greece and Portugal. It also comes as the EU has made progress in its fight against the pandemic, with 32.4 per cent of its citizens having received at least one vaccination dose, according to Bloomberg's Vaccine Tracker.

The new rules will replace a blanket ban on non-essential travel. Some member states, such as Greece, already permit tourists to visit without quarantine requirements if they have been inoculated.

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On Thursday, EU officials will discuss a draft "white list" of non-EU countries that present a low risk of spreading the disease. With infection numbers in the US dropping significantly, on the back of a mass vaccinations, the US is likely to make it to the list.

The new rules include a so-called emergency brake, which would allow member states to restore travel bans on countries where risky new variants emerge or contagion rates spike. The European Commission has already demanded that such brake is applied for all travel from India. BLOOMBERG