European Union agrees to reopen to vaccinated visitors on non-EU tourists

European Union countries agreed on Wednesday to ease COVID-19 travel restrictions on non-EU visitors ahead of the summer tourist season.

EU ambassadors for the 27 member states reached an agreement on Wednesday to allow vaccinated holidaymakers from outside the EU, including the UK, to visit the bloc.

Ambassadors recommended at a meeting on Wednesday that rules should be changed to allow non-essential visits into the EU by travellers who are fully vaccinated – in other words, both doses of a two-dose vaccine or one in the case of the Johnson & Johnson injection.

However, on the unresolved question of how will visitors be able to prove they have been vaccinated, the EU said it will be up to individual member states to decide what evidence they will accept.

The Local is currently trying to determine what proof will be needed in the countries we cover.

The EU currently has a small “safe list” of countries from where travellers are allowed in for non-essential reasons due to its infection rates. The list includes Australia, New Zealand and Israel. The UK is expected to be formally added to this list on Friday although some EU countries, including France, have already jumped ahead and allowed non-essential travel from the UK.

Travellers from these countries are permitted to enter the bloc even if they are not vaccinated, but in general, must show evidence of a recent negative test.

The EU is currently working on a “Covid-19 certificate” which will allow travellers to prove they are either vaccinated, recovered from Covid or have recently tested negative.

This is what the EU Commission has proposed:

  • Member States should allow travel into the EU of those people who have received, at least 14 days before arrival, the last recommended dose of a vaccine having received marketing authorisation in the EU (Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson).
  •  If Member States decide to waive the requirements to present a negative PCR test and/or to undergo quarantine for vaccinated persons on their territory, they should also waive such requirements for vaccinated travellers from outside the EU.
  • Member States could consider setting up a portal allowing travellers to ask for the recognition of a vaccination certificate issued by a non-EU country as reliable proof of vaccination.
  • Children who are excluded from vaccination should be able to travel with their vaccinated parents if they have a negative PCR COVID-19 test taken at the earliest 72 hours before arrival area.

Several EU member states have already announced their own plans for reopening, including France which proposes allowing all vaccinated tourists from outside the EU from June 9th, and Spain which is talking to the UK government directly about access for British tourists this summer.