The Council of the European Union removed Ukraine and Singapore from its list of safe countries.
The Council of the European Union on Friday removed Ukraine and Singapore from its list of epidemiologically safe countries, whose citizens can travel to the EU for pleasure and not only for essential reasons.
The recommendation of the Council of the EU – an institution that represents the governments of the 27 – is not binding on member states, but warns that a country should not decide to lift travel restrictions on countries that are not on the list without is decided in a coordinated manner in the Union.
However, it leaves the possibility for Member States to withdraw the temporary restriction for fully vaccinated travelers, even if they come from countries considered unsafe from an epidemiological point of view.
The list of safe countries, which is reviewed every two weeks, includes Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Jordan, Kuwait, Namibia, New Zealand, Peru, Qatar, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Emirates United Arab Emirates, Uruguay and China, but the latter subject to confirmation of reciprocity, according to a statement issued by the Council.
In addition to those countries, the Council recommends that travel restrictions are also gradually lifted for the Chinese special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao, as well as for Taiwan, while stressing that the citizens of Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican should be considered EU citizens in this recommendation.
The associated countries of the European Schengen area of free movement (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland) are also part of the recommendation.
In deciding which countries are included in the list, the epidemiological situation and the general response to COVID-19, as well as the reliability and availability of the information, are taken into account.
For the citizens of the countries listed in it, each Member State decides whether or not to impose a quarantine on them upon arrival in its territory. (I)
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