The Ambassadors of the Member States to the European Union (Coreper) decided on Wednesday 2 June to reinstate Japan on the list of third countries whose nationals may travel to the EU for non-essential travel, as the health situation corresponds to the new criteria set by the Member States (see EUROPE 12722/1) allowing reopening of borders to tourists who are fully vaccinated or who come from an area where the incidence rate has not exceeded 75 cases/100,000 inhabitants over the last 14 days.
The list therefore now allows residents of eight third countries (Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Rwanda, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and China, subject to reciprocity) to travel to the EU again, in principle without restrictions, if they are fully vaccinated, according to the new recommendation. However, Member States remain free to apply restrictions.
The new list is expected to be formally adopted by the EU Council of Ministers later this week.
Intra-EU travel
The Ambassadors also discussed the revised proposal for a recommendation on intra-EU travel (see EUROPE 12730/1). Presented on Monday 31 May, the recommendation asks Member States not to apply any restrictions to vaccinated European tourists and relaxes the thresholds for the colour codes in the ECDC maps.
The recommendation was generally welcomed, says one source, although several countries asked that simplicity be the watchword in the rules applied and in the links with the different tools and recommendations, such as the EU Digital Covid Certificate or the recommendation for non-essential travel by residents of third-countries. In this respect, some have also argued that there should be no discrimination between EU travellers and travellers arriving from third countries, while the Commission has relaxed the entry conditions for both sides.
The Portuguese Presidency of the EU Council intends to move forward quickly, as the Commission has asked Member States to agree on this tool by mid-June. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)