EU is considering reimposing travel restrictions on American visitors

Of course. Only makes sense.

Just for the people who can't see the "article":

It's a statement made by an unidentified person.

Removing the US would require an agreement by a qualified majority of the members.

It won't apply to vaccinated people.

It won't apply to vaccinated people.

You left off something critical - it appears that restrictions would apply to non-essential travel, like tourists. Who knows how to parse the following?:

"The restrictions would apply to non-essential travel. However, fully vaccinated people should still be able to enter EU countries, the person said."

It is something to pay attention to at this point for anyone with travel plans in the coming weeks and months. Nothing definitive in any of this - certainly this article is skimpy on details - but still, this would throw a spanner into travel plans for a lot of people.

And you know the various trade groups will be lobbying hard against it.

A spokeswoman for Airlines for Europe, a trade group that represents
European airlines, said that despite the spread of the delta variant,
“increasing vaccination levels means the incident rate should not be
the only criteria dictating policy decisions.”

"The restrictions would apply to non-essential travel. However, fully vaccinated people should still be able to enter EU countries, the person said."

So vaccinated people could enter for 'essential' travel, but no tourists would be allowed? Is that what the message is? (assuming the speculative EU action comes to pass)

Hard to make travel plans based on rumors from unidentified sources about what governmental bodies 'might' do.

Maybe we should all tackle something easy like calculating pi to a final digit.

Hard to make travel plans based on rumors from unidentified sources about what governmental bodies 'might' do.

It is already hard to make travel plans with the surge and the rules changes in just the last month. This just adds another dimension to the assessment of risk.

Anybody with an upcoming trip through the end of the year would be wise to keep an eye on this story as it unfolds. And as has been recommended for any travel bookings these days, make sure they are refundable or cancelable if you don't want to get stuck with the check.

@Jojo - the problem is, we're keeping an eye on everything. This is getting exhausting. Trust me, I know it's a first world issue, but it's nevertheless exhausting.

Surely I'm not the only one who thinks non-essential travel plans being made now are all premature. We have no way of knowing how this pandemic will progress. A month or two ago, it felt like the pandemic was easing and many of us rushed to plan our long-postponed trips. Now there is a new surge of cases. I had a trip scheduled to Seattle for next week, and I've canceled it. I have an overseas trip planned for next February/March that I already postponed twice, and now I'm guessing I will end up postponing yet again. Maybe the next variant, or the one after that, will be resistant to all our vaccines.

We would be well-advised to remember that viruses do not travel on their own. People move them.

If the EU is indeed planning new restrictions, I say, good for them!

No, Lane, you certainly are not alone. Anyone travelling for non essential reasons this year MUST be aware that nothing is stable and all restrictions or lack thereof are subject to change on short notice. I have no patience for anyone whining or bi^&♤ing because they are facing new rule changes. They should have been aware of the possibility long ago.

Having to keep on top of these changes certainly adds layers of complexity, but thems the breaks for anyone determined to travel internationally this year.

Maybe the EU should do like Malta was doing for awhile and just ban people from certain US states. Is every US tourist over there now likely to be forced home like last March? Thousands of booked flights cancelled again? Honestly a) this year the key for all of us traveling is flexibility b) there are some non-EU countries (Switzerland, Croatia, etc.) who may still take us as tourists c) you can bet the airlines are going to fight this, especially when there is reciprocity light at the end of the tunnel given the Administration’s statements today that they are working on letting vaccinated tourists into the US d) Covid isn’t going to magically disappear, so vaccination vaccination vaccination.

We leave in 2 weeks for Switzerland, IF this happens and they go along with this, we’ll figure something else out, if they continue to allow vaccinated people in we will happily spend our tourist $$$ there.

Each country has always had the option to decide who to let in and what to require. Italy still won’t let Brits in without quarantine but Switzerland will.

I predict the need to keep economies running will win out. Vaccination status plus a test before flying should be enough.

I would be shocked if the EU voted to start banning Americans.

In the U.S., the vast, and I mean vast, majority of those coming down with Covid are the unvaccinated. If that's the case, why punish someone who is vaccinated and shows a negative test? Yes, there is a small chance that someone who is vaccinated can carry the virus. But shutting the borders really isn't going to work as some people think. You can't truly shut the borders unless you want to see shortages in things like food, medicines and other necessities. The people transporting the goods can also carry and transmit the virus.

Plus, as mentioned earlier, the economic hit would be too much for many small businesses who are desperate to survive.

And anyway, in many countries, it's close to new elections and the last thing a candidate wants to to have high unemployment numbers and business failures following them.

I do find it odd that Italy won't allow the Brits, seeing as how they are one of their major tourist groups

And most Brits are vaccinated.

I would be shocked if the EU voted to start banning Americans.

I tend to agree maybe not outright "banning", but I definitely could see an increase in restrictions especially for non-essential travel, requiring more negative tests, and even quarantines reinstated.

In this rapidly changing environment, nothing would shock or surprise me, though. First thing to watch for is an increase in restrictions between EU countries, say between Germany and France. What may be coming is not an "anti American" issue, it is about the trend in infections not just here in the US but within Europe. Restrictions could be put into place soon and just as quickly be withdrawn if the trend peaks and reverses in a few months which is what experts are expecting.

Its hard for politicians to make policies to keep up with an everchanging situation. The reasoning that was behind justifying opening up travel to vaccinated individuals, was based on the data which showed that vaccinated people were less likely to carry and transmit the virus, not that they were immune from getting infected. The Delta variant changed that. The data is showing that even vaccinated people can carry exponentially greater Delta than previous variants. Thus being vaccinated doesn't guarantee you are less of a threat anymore.

The only tools we have to make this go away are vaccines and personal protection (masks, distancing). Since many people are balking at any of that, here we are.

Per this and other news reports, fake CDC cards are "on the rise" here and in Europe, and I would think this is a concern to the EU in their upcoming discussions about imposing new restrictions on American non-essential travel:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/fake-covid-vaccination-cards-are-on-the-rise-in-the-u-s-europe-11628341203

When your article is behind a paywall you need to post the full article (copy it!), and not the link.

When your article is behind a paywall you need to post the full article (copy it!), and not the link.

I am fairly new to this forum, and since I am not sure if that is allowed by the forum rules or even permitted under fair use doctrine, I prefer not to do it (other forums I participate in do not allow it). Besides, the article headline alone tells the whole story. Plus there are other news reports of the same that are not paywalled.

If someone else wants to cut and paste it, be my guest.

This is extremely vexing. I have rescheduled a trip 4x already. I'm someone who stays home, is vaccinated (and has been since February of this year).

To me reimposing restrictions on vaccinated tourists makes absolutely no sense.

To come to a compromise they should just allow vaccinated people in, have them take a covid test 3 days prior to departure, then once when they arrive, AND tell them they have to carry proof of health insurance while abroad (like GeoBlue or something).

Why should I have to be punished because other Americans are fools? Enough is enough.

If they want to curb the issue with CDC cards, have the person bring the white CARD plus the printed out electronic record that places give you along with it (they all give you this to my knowledge). In addition, they could ask for a yellowcard - which yes went back and got one at my original vaccination site. Its signed off on and stamped. Or a blood test- honestly I dont' mind giving up a vial that says I have antibodies and signed off on by a doctor if it means not postponing yet again.

I completely agree with Jojo Rabbit. It is not OK to copy and paste whole articles.

plus the printed out electronic record that places give you along with it (they all give you this to my knowledge)

Nope. No one I know of has anything like this. Maybe some states do this but not all. And I asked about getting the yellow card and was told no. So yeah, lots of confusion. Its a lot to expect foreign countries to accommodate our failure to have a system.

Its a lot to expect foreign countries to accommodate our failure to have a system.

I agree here with Stan. And I frankly am kind of amazed that, at least up until now, they have accommodated Americans by accepting the CDC card as evidence, and for making a pass sanitaire version (France) for Americans to show on their phones, too.

Stan
I was able to get a very official looking printout from the system that holds my medical records, in my case “MyChart” which both doctor and hospital system use to record all health info. It is not a state thing.

Laurel, thats great. I understand many people have access to such records via their health care provider, maybe their pharmacy, etc.

My vaccination was at a mass vaccination event (8,000 people in two days) in a stadium parking lot. I was there as a volunteer, actually handing out the CDC cards to people after being jabbed. The records of those shots were sent only to the state health department. My doc won't confirm or deny anything that his office did not do.

But imagine the burden on the other end in Europe - each immigration screener, border agent, airline gate agent, restaurant server, museum guard, security staff, law enforcement, medical care providers, etc., - who now has to be able judge the validity of copied documents from 56 states & territories, and twenty thousand different health departments, pharmacies, doctors offices, etc. Its even much to expect them to read and understand the English writing. I picture negotiating and explaining with every person who wants to know.

These are just obstacles, not impossibilities. I do hope they work things out, I just don't expect it to be a priority.

You had to know this was coming with the surge (bolding mine)

Perhaps I'm alone in this, but wondering if this isn't an epidemiological decision, but instead a political response to the US's recent decision to continue disallowing non-essential travel for Europeans. Or both.

Perhaps I'm alone in this, but wondering if this isn't an epidemiological decision, but instead a political response to the US's recent decision to continue disallowing non-essential travel for Europeans. Or both.

i think it is both. And with the summer vacation season winding down in Europe, without reciprocal travel agreements that were promised (Biden assured Merkel in July that we were going to reciprocate), I have no doubt that the EU is thinking about closing what has been a one way street for the leisure / non essential travel.

have no doubt that the EU is thinking about closing what has been a one way street for the leisure / non essential travel.

That type of action really punishes their citizens far more than it punishes us as a nation or as travelers.

Biden assured Merkel in July that we were going to reciprocate

Unless I missed it, he never said when this would happen, and his actual quote was a typically cagey politician's response....

"At a news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Biden was asked about ending restrictions that bar most European visitors from entering the United States.

Biden said Thursday that a team that is advising him on the pandemic “brought that subject up. It’s in the process of (considering) how soon we can lift the ban ... and I will be able to answer that question to you within the next several days.”

https://apnews.com/article/lifestyle-joe-biden-europe-travel-coronavirus-pandemic-bebb0ef12f26d981334359557f66388c

My aunt had a trip to the US booked for September to visit my father, her brother. But the US's restrictions meant that they just cancelled everything, got what they could in refunds. Now my parents are coming here for a few weeks to visit us. But we are a bit worried that the EU will impose quarantine or restrictions that may impact my parents' trip. All individuals involved are fully vaccinated, careful with masking compliance, willing to test as needed, and hold the passports of their country of residence (except my father, who is a dual citizen). The back and forth has been exhausting, and with a sister in Denmark whom my parents would also want to visit, this gets complicated in a hurry.

We have been avoiding all non-essential or tourism travel beyond local, and when we do finally travel, we expect to be on a one-country itinerary and to be highly flexible and book with refundable tickets. But we aren't there yet. Our big gamble was the travel back to the US to see family we hadn't seen in too long, and even that was nerve wracking.

Frankly, it is a first world problem even for our visit to family, and I am grateful for the opportunity to do that much.

They decided not to........

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/eu-won-t-impose-travel-curbs-on-u-s-despite-rise-in-covid-cases-1.1638346

Frank, that's great news!!!! Thanks for the link to the article. Now if Switzerland will continue to let us in, things will be all good.

One of the knots in my stomach eased at this update, so thanks, Frank! Like Carrie, we are awaiting and update from Switzerland. I suspect the interested parties in the travel industry put a lot of pressure on the EU powers. I do wish that all of the countries would require vaccination and not just a negative COVID test.

They decided not to........

Thank you for posting this, Frank II. One more example of much Sturm und Drang on the forum that thankfully came to nothing.

Current entry requirements for US citizens from the US embassy in Brussels posted today since the US was designated "Red" https://unitedstates.diplomatie.belgium.be/en/coronavirus-covid-19

That's just for Belgium.

One week down, one more to go before the EU reconvenes about Americans visiting Europe according to the article that Frank posted

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/eu-won-t-impose-travel-curbs-on-u-s-despite-rise-in-covid-cases-1.1638346

Even if the EU changes their mind, it's non binding, so individual countries can choose to not follow. Or, they can be more restrictive.

I know where to find the EU list, but does anyone know if it’s been updated today? Thanks!

https://ec.europa.eu/info/live-work-travel-eu/coronavirus-response/travel-during-coronavirus-pandemic_en#restrictions-on-travel-from-third-countries-to-the-eu