The EU member states decided with a necessary majority that only people from 14 countries may return from Wednesday. The list is to be revised every two weeks, as the Council of EU states said.
EU wants to lift Corona entry freeze for these 14 countries
So far, Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay have been on the list. China is also mentioned – but the country still has to promise that EU citizens can also enter there.
In the future, the number of new Covid 19 infections in the past 14 days will be decisive for easing entry restrictions. In addition, the trend over the same period and how the respective state deals with the pandemic should also play a role.
Criteria for lifting the Corona entry ban
Specifically, the number of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants within the past two weeks is "close to or below" the EU average, which was 16 recently. The trend of new cases in the same period should be "stable or decreasing" compared to the previous 14 days. Measures for contact tracking of infected people, the number of tests and containment efforts are to play a role in the handling of states with Covid-19.
Travelers from countries heavily affected by the corona pandemic are therefore initially left out. In countries such as the USA or Brazil, according to data from the EU health authority ECDC, 120 or more cases per 100,000 inhabitants have been reported in the past 14 days. The overview does not provide any information about the trend.
To curb the coronavirus pandemic, all EU states except Ireland and the non-EU states Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland agreed in mid-March to initially ban travel to the EU that was not absolutely necessary. The entry stop had been extended several times and is currently valid until the end of June.
List "not legally binding" – States decide themselves
However, the list is "not legally binding for the Member States", as the EU Council said. "Member State authorities remain responsible for implementing the content of the recommendation." The list of countries should also be updated every two weeks after the decision.