The European Union first published a list of fourteen countries at the end of June 2020. According to the information, the list currently includes Australia, South Korea, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, Rwanda, Thailand and Singapore. Taking into account the promotion of reciprocity, travel restrictions should also be phased out for the special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macao. Montenegro, Serbia, Algeria, Morocco, Uruguay, Georgia and Tunisia were previously removed from the list.
The union will lift restrictions on China if this happens to each other on the other side. Citizens of Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, Vatican City, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland can also enter the Union without restrictions.
A country is considered safe if the increase in the number of new coronavirus infections is close to or below the EU average. The Board’s recommendation is not legally binding. The authorities of Member States remain responsible for implementing the recommendation. Only member states can gradually remove travel restrictions from the countries listed, while ensuring complete transparency.
They added that a member state cannot decide to lift travel restrictions for a country not on the list before a coordinated decision is taken.
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