Fully vaccinated American tourists will be able to travel to EU countries this summer, the head of the EU's executive body said in an interview with The New York Times. This will happen more than a year after the ban on non-essential travel in most countries, to limit the spread of coronavirus.
The rapid pace of vaccination in the United States and the advanced discussions between the authorities there and the European Union on how to make vaccine certificates accepted globally, as evidence of visitor immunization, will allow the European Commission, the executive branch of the Union To recommend a policy change that could make transatlantic leisure travel a resumption.
"From what I see, Americans use vaccines approved by the European Medicines Agency", Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, said in an interview with The Times in Brussels on Sunday. "This will allow free movement and travel to the European Union as well."
The resumption of travel would depend on the epidemiological situation.
Fully vaccinated American tourists will be able to travel to EU countries this summer "Because one thing is clear: all 27 Member States will unconditionally accept all visitors who are vaccinated with EMA-approved vaccines.", she added. The agency, which is the regulatory authority for medicines in the European Union, has approved all three vaccines used in the United States, namely Moderna, Pfizer BioNTech and Johnson & Johnson.
Ursula von der Leyen did not provide a timeline on when the tourist trips could be reopened or details on how they would take place, but the comments are part of a statement that the current travel restrictions are changed. based on vaccination certificates. She mentioned that the United States was "On the right track and making huge strides through the open campaign to achieve so-called herd immunity or vaccination of 70% of adults by mid-June."
Diplomats from European countries, which are also Greece's favorite tourist destinations, led by Greece, argue that how the EU determines whether a country is "safe" - based solely on the number of cases identified by Covid-19 - is rapidly becoming irrelevant. view the progress of vaccination campaigns in the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries.
The European Commission will recommend changing the travel policy so that vaccinated American tourists can travel to the EU.
The European Union itself has begun the process of providing its citizens with "digital green certificates", which will determine whether the traveler has been vaccinated against Covid-19; has recovered from the disease in recent months; or has given negative results for the virus in recent days. Europeans will be able to use them to travel without added restrictions, at least in principle, in the bloc of 27 nations.
Thus, the European Commission will recommend a change in travel policy, although individual Member States may reserve the right to keep stricter limits. It could ban non-EU citizens from entering the country or impose restrictions such as quarantine, even on visitors with vaccination certificates.
Countries such as Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Croatia, which receive millions of American tourists each summer and depend heavily on them for income and jobs, want to take the opportunity to reopen the tourist market for American tourists if The EU will endorse this directive.
As of March XIV, American Airlines has resumed flights on several routes between the United States and Europe. According to the operational program announced by the American airline, it has reactivated 10 routes that will connect the US hubs with the main cities in Europe.