It is the news that many Americans have been waiting for; that they will be able to visit the EU over summer. Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, told The New York Times in Brussels on Sunday that Americans who have been fully vaccinated, will be allowed to visit European countries over the summer.
It is understood, that although a date has not yet been given for when travel can begin, it will be allowed because of two reasons: firstly, the successful roll out of the vaccination program in the U.S. and secondly, because of the agreement between all 27 EU countries on the need to use vaccination certificates–France became the first EU country to trial its version on flights.
It has not yet been fully worked out how a traveler might arrive with the right vaccination documentation for each EU destination, although, as reported by The New York Times, Brussels and U.S. officials are in constant talks. It might just be the case that a new arrival could acquire the required documents on landing in the EU in exchange for the vaccination certificate issued by their government.
Ursula von der Leyen said that because the vaccines used in the U.S. have also been approved in the EU, “this will enable free movement and the travel to the European Union... because one thing is clear: all 27 member states will accept, unconditionally, all those who are vaccinated with vaccines that are approved.” The three vaccines are the Moderna, Pfizer/BioNTech and Johnson & Johnson shots.
As regards when Americans might be able to arrive in European countries, von der Leyen said that it would depend “on the epidemiological situation, but the situation is improving in the United States, as it is, hopefully, also improving in the European Union.”
Whilst the EU’s vaccination program lagged at first, it has picked up in recent weeks and many countries are planning to come out of lockdown in May across Europe, if they haven’t done so already.
With Biden reportedly eyeing up May as the month when he might rescind the ban on EU travel, and with this new statement by the president of the European Commission, the hope would be that after one year of travel bans, a beleaguered travel industry might just be able to kick back into life and families might be reunited again after such a long time apart.
It is worth noting that whilst the European Commission will recommend this change in travel policy, many EU countries might still reserve the right to implement different border controls over summer, maybe keeping quarantine in place or keeping their borders closed entirely, depending on the epidemiological situation. This could be regardless of whether someone has been vaccinated or not.
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April 26, 2021 at 04:37AM
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