The United States is on a list of countries whose travellers will be barred from entry to the bloc after external borders are reopened, Euronews understands from an EU source.
Officials have been drawing up lists detailing which countries whose travellers the bloc could allow in — and those who will still be refused entry — when the EU’s external borders are reopened on July 1.
Other countries to be excluded according to a draft list that will be finalised later on Wednesday include Russia, Brazil and Qatar. An official announcement is expected early next week.
When EU guidelines were released two weeks ago officials said the list would take into account the infection rate in countries concerned. The criteria are based on epidemiological data: 47 countries are in the list of acceptable countries; travellers from 54 nations are likely still to be barred from the bloc, our source outlined.
The United States is on the second list of “unacceptable” countries, the source told Euronews. This confirms a story in the New York Times, which said that according to draft lists it had seen, EU countries were preparing to block travellers from the US where the pandemic has not been controlled.
The US has had more than 120,000 COVID-19 deaths and over 2.3 million cases according to the Johns Hopkins University, with new surges of infections reported in several US states.
