Europe set to extend travel ban for U.S. residents on Tuesday

Published 29 Jun,2020 via Bloomberg Politics - European Union governments are poised to extend a travel ban for U.S. residents for at least two weeks, according to a draft of a decision due to be formally adopted on Tuesday.

The wording of the decision, seen by Bloomberg, signals that the ban disrupting both business and leisure travel across the Atlantic won’t be lifted until U.S. authorities control the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. In a move that may not be well received in Washington, the bloc will also lift travel restrictions for Chinese residents as of July 1, on the condition that Beijing confirms that the same applies to EU citizens.

The region’s governments will say that they will only be allowing visits from countries where the average number of infections per 100,000 inhabitants over the past two weeks is similar or below the level of the EU and that the trend of new cases is declining. The list will be subject to biweekly updates, though EU governments could take urgent measures if a situation in one of the approved countries deteriorates, according to the document.