The European Union appears on track to open up to vaccinated travelers, with the bloc’s executive recommending easing travel restrictions to allow foreign tourists from more countries to enter.
Currently, only people from seven countries, including Australia and Singapore, are allowed to enter the EU for holidays and other non-essential reasons, whether or not they have been vaccinated.
Under the European Commission’s new proposals, which would require the approval of member states, people who have been fully vaccinated and who are arriving from countries with a “good epidemiological situation” would be allowed in.
Under the new proposed rules, people arriving from Britain would also be able to travel to EU countries.
The Commission did recommend an “emergency break” that would allow for the swift introduction of travel restrictions if necessary, however.
EU member states are expected to begin discussing the proposal on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, in the UK, MPs have called on ministers to keep coronavirus restrictions on foreign travel intact to protect the country from Covid-19 variants.
Calling on ministers to maintain restrictions, the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) said that “all international leisure travel” should be discouraged over the coming months.
Describing airport arrival halls as a “breeding ground for infection,” the MPs said that ushering in new variants could “lead to further lockdowns, and inevitably, further loss of life”.
If the ban on overseas travel does lift as expected on 17 May, they said that passengers returning from green, amber and red countries under the new traffic light system should be kept apart at airports.
The group said that airlines and travel companies would need to be provided with “adequate financial support” to ensure that travelers and the broader public will be protected.
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