The EU ambassadors’ negotiations indicate strict rules – the current corona entry restrictions are to remain in place for many countries

(dpa)

In the EU, there are signs of an agreement on strict criteria for the planned relaxation of the corona entry restrictions. According to this, travelers from countries such as the USA, Russia and Brazil will only be allowed to come to the EU in exceptional cases after the end of this month, as the German press agency learned on Friday evening after consulting the EU ambassador.

Only for people from around a dozen countries such as South Korea or New Zealand could the current entry restrictions be lifted in July. The latter stipulate that only essential trips are allowed.

According to EU circles, the compromise on the criteria and the list of countries worked out at the level of the ambassadors still has to be submitted for voting in some capitals. Ideally, a decision can then be taken on Monday in writing.

In the future, the number of new Covid 19 infections in the two weeks before will be decisive for easing the entry restrictions. In addition, the trend over the same period and how the respective state deals with the pandemic should also play a role.

Specifically, it is envisaged that the number of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants within the past two weeks should be “close to or below 16” – in other words, as the EU average. 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 should play a role in the handling of states with Covid-19.

Citizens from countries heavily affected by the corona pandemic, such as the USA and Russia, would therefore remain outside for now. The last time there were 60 to 120 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in 14 days. For countries like Brazil and Saudi Arabia, an overview of the EU health authority ECDC from Friday even gives a value of 120 or more cases. The overview does not provide any information about the trend.

In order to take into account the development of the number of infections, the entry restrictions should be continuously checked. The question of whether EU citizens can travel to the respective third country should also be included. In China, for example, despite relatively low infection rates, foreigners still have an entry ban.

To curb the coronavirus pandemic, all EU countries except Ireland and the non-EU countries 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.