From the beginning of this month, The European Union member states commenced on progressively lifting the travel restrictions at the external borders for residents of some third countries especially on non-essential travel into the EU.
Yesterday 16 July 2020, the EU council updated the list of countries onto which the directive conquers. This was based on the criteria and conditions set out in the prior arrived at recommendations by the council. Below is the updated list of countries:
Algeria
Australia
Canada
Georgia
Japan
Morocco
New Zealand
Rwanda
South Korea
Thailand
Tunisia
Uruguay
China, subject to confirmation of reciprocity
Residents of Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican should be considered as EU residents for this purpose. However, compared to the prior list allotted on 30 June, Serbia and Montenegro are n from no longer on the list.
The criteria to determine the third countries for which the current travel restriction should be lifted cover in particular the epidemiological situation and containment measures, including physical distancing, as well as economic and social considerations. They are applied cumulatively.
Basing on the epidemiological situation, third countries listed should meet the following criteria, in particular:
- Number of new COVID-19 cases over the last 14 days and per 100 000 inhabitants close to or below the EU average (as it stood on 15 June 2020)
- Stable or decreasing trend of new cases over this period in comparison to the previous 14 days
- Overall response to COVID-19 taking into account available information, including on aspects such as testing, surveillance, contact tracing, containment, treatment and reporting, as well as the reliability of the information and, if needed, the total average score for International Health Regulations (IHR). Information provided by EU delegations on these aspects should also be taken into account.
This list will be reviewed and, as the case may be, updated every two weeks. The list is based on the criteria and conditions set out in the recommendation earlier embraced by the Council.
However, for countries where travel restrictions continue to apply, the following categories of people are to be exempted from the restrictions:
- EU citizens and their family members
- Long-term EU residents and their family members
- Travellers with an essential function or need, as listed in the recommendation.
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