EU to Allow Non-EU Travelers to Enter Starting in July

Approaching the German border from Austria

The European Union won’t begin to lift travel restrictions in and out of the bloc until July, said EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson.

Johansson said that the EU would fully open internal borders by the end of the month, speaking after a meeting of EU and Schengen area interior ministers.  Individual countries in the bloc and later the European Union closed their borders in response to the spread of the novel coronavirus starting in February of this year.

“We should consider the gradual lifting of restrictions on non-essential travel to the EU [in] early July,” she said.

Normally, countries in the Schengen have no border controls when traveling from one country to the other.  The Schengen area includes 22 EU countries and four non-EU nations, namely Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

The ministers did not say which nationals from non-EU and non-Schengen countries would be allowed to enter the bloc, but once admitted, visitors would not face any internal border controls.

(Photo: Accura Media Group)