Europe may have banned the U.S. and others from traveling to the continent in July. But it is also paving the way for potentially thousands of people from those excluded countries to visit.
The European Union announced guidelines on Tuesday for lifting the travel ban on over a dozen countries–and maintaining restrictions on others including the U.S.
In the “recommendation”, it advises members to implement an increasing number of exemptions, for those who didn’t make it to the safe countries’ list.
The EU advises members to exempt the following travelers:
Notably it is urging the 30 travel ban countries to allow entry to two major new categories:
The waiver for “travelers with an essential function or need”, in particular, could be widely interpreted by individual European countries, in deciding to give the green light to travelers from the banned list.
The European Commission has confirmed it is thus laying the foundations for a host of possible arrivals from banned countries. “That’s correct,” says Adalbert Jahnz, a spokesperson for migration, home affairs and citizenship. The idea is to encourage members to let in highly skilled workers. Not just health and medical workers as over past months.
Students, skilled workers and others from banned countries, who do get the nod to travel, can expect rigorous screening. “Member States may introduce additional safety measures for these travellers, especially when their trip originates in a high risk region,” the EU states.
EU members are not bound by the recommendations, but are likely to respect the travel ban on Americans. On the other hand, the expanded list of exemptions leaves countries quite some margin on deciding exactly who they will allow in.
So far Denmark is in a league of its own in allowing visits for residents from banned countries, for a host of reasons. For lovers to reunite, job interviews, business meetings and attending your child’s birth.
A check on the EU’s Reopen Europe app shows a fair bit of unanimity among members in response to the lifting, and maintenance, of the border closure on non-Europeans.
Greece too signals it will accept some third-country nationals coming from outside the EU/Schengen zone “without exceptional restrictions”. Yet it’s still barring “countries where the number of coronavirus cases remains threateningly high”. And that includes the U.S.
Aside from permanent residents and their close family members, other exceptions mentioned by the Consulate General of Greece in New York are “those traveling on essential business”, or for a family emergency.
Definitely under the EU’s new guidelines, there’s scope for exemptions to be interpreted more liberally, in a Danish-like manner.
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I have three decades of experience as a journalist, foreign correspondent and travel writer-photographer. Working for print, digital and radio outlets on four continents,
I have three decades of experience as a journalist, foreign correspondent and travel writer-photographer. Working for print, digital and radio outlets on four continents, I am also a veteran hotel industry reporter and author of travel guides and cultural histories to Australia, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and Borneo. Very often on the road between my Paris and Australian bases, I write for Forbes with a globetrotters perspective and newsy edge on travel, culture, hotels, art and architecture. My passion is capturing the distinctive people, places and events I encounter along the way, both in words and pictures. I hold a degree in Professional Writing from Canberra University, an MA in European Journalism from the Université Robert Schuman Strasbourg, and am a member of the Society of American Travel Writers. A love for my wild home-island of Tasmania fuels my commitment to sustainable travel and conservation.