This morning’s meeting in Brussels failed to decide on the “definitive” short list of countries on who can travel.
Although the member states are in agreement that countries such as the United States and Russia should not be on the travel list yet to the EU because of their very high levels of infection rates compared to Europe, they haven’t decided on who can.
With outbreaks of Covid-19 emerging in EU states such as Portugal, Germany and Spain, EU-members are wary about letting potential hazards through.
Some governments have even called for ‘air-bridging’ between states meaning no quarantine which in some opinions creates more of a potential risk of exposure.
And according to Brussels, action needs to be done on a ‘scientific and health base’ rather than a political motive.
Next Wednesday, July the 1st, is when border travel is meant to be finalized, with Spain saying they are reopening their border to Portugal as an example.
EU states and international countries on the list, identified as “safe” will ideally be based on several criteria, such as the average number of new infections per 100,000 people over the past two weeks.
Brazil’s rate is a stagger 190 and the US’s is 107 compared to the EU as a whole which is 16 per 100,000.
The German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has suggested that “a threshold of 50 infections per 100,000 inhabitants could be an option”, but Spain’s Foreign Minister Arancha González Laya hinted today that there’s actually “no consensus” on this at present.
Discussions are expected to continue tomorrow.
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