European capitals have made tentative steps towards introducing a list of 15 countries whose citizens will be able to enjoy holidays on the Continent this summer. All the nations on the list are deemed to have the pandemic under control, and it will also include four European principalities, such as Monaco and Vatican City. But under the proposals, travellers from the United States are set to be ban from the bloc until further notice.
Russia, Brazil and India, which all have high infection rates, are expected to be included on the banned list.
According to a list, seen by Express.co.uk, the nations considered safe enough are Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay.
China could also be allowed access it Beijing agrees to offer European countries a reciprocal arrangement.
Europeans cannot currently travel to China for non-essential visits and the Chinese are not expected to change their policy in the coming weeks.
The EU’s demand for “reciprocity” from Beijing is understood too be part of a plan to quash American criticism of the banned list.
On previous versions of the list, Venezuela and Cuba were considered a potential candidates for the travel exemption.
EU diplomats are expected to sign off on the final package on Tuesday with member states still divided between those who want to hand a boost to their tourism industry and those who are sceptical about reopening.
Sources have said the debate risks becoming mixed up between political and epidemiological reasons for allowing travel.
The criteria is understood to be based on whether the published infection rates are below the EU’s own statistics.
Countries with a coronavirus infection rate higher than the EU’s average of around 16 per 100,000 inhabitants are expected to be banned.
The list will be under constant review, with announcements of any changes made every two weeks.
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She said: “This is not an exercise to be nice or unfriendly to other countries, this is an exercise of self-responsibility.”
Britain will be included on the travel list alongside other EU countries because of the post-Brexit transition period.
But any announcement is understood to be pending while Brussels awaits news on whether the Government’s mandatory two-week quarantine for arrivals into the country is scrapped.