The criteria European Union nations could use to block visitors from countries with severe coronavirus outbreaks – including the United States – visiting Europe has been “hiding in plain sight” since the middle of June when the guidelines were published, says an EU official.
European countries are currently working through a checklist of criteria based on the health situation and reciprocal travel arrangements in an external country that would create a list of countries whose visitors might be considered safe to visit from July 1.
The guidelines have, “absolutely nothing to do with political decisions, this is based on the current health situation in a third country,” said the official.
When asked whether the executive order signed by President Trump this week that freezes visas for foreign workers was a factor, the official added, “I know some media have said for instance the executive order the United States President signed is part of this decision; it could not be further from the situation.”
The June guidelines: When asked if the US was on a list of origin countries that might be barred from travel to Europe, one EU diplomat directed CNN to the first point of a June 11 checklist published by the European Commission on what to consider when allowing travelers into the EU.
The first point on the checklist asks whether the country can “be considered as being in a comparable or better epidemiological situation as the average in the EU+ area” with regard to number of new infections, trend of new infections and response in areas such as testing, surveillance, contact tracing, containment, treatment and reporting.
The latest US numbers: The US has the highest number of coronavirus deaths and infections in the world.
As of late Tuesday in the US, at least 2,346,937 had been infected in the country and 121,224 had died, according to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.
Tourism accounts for 10% of Europe’s GDP. “We are keen, and member states are keen for Europe to be open for tourism for jobs,” said the official.
Ambassadors are set to meet again today and Friday to discuss the next steps in the process.
Recommendations made by the European Commission are not mandatory — decisions on whether and how to open up borders are matters for individual states.