The 27 European Union member nations gave majority approval on Tuesday, 30 June 2020 to allow non-essential travel from its initial "safe list" of countries. People travelling from the countries on the “safe list” can travel to the EU for business or leisure. The countries on the safe list are:
- Algeria
- Australia
- Canada
- Georgia
- Japan
- Montenegro
- Morocco
- New Zealand
- Rwanda
- Serbia
- South Korea
- Thailand
- Tunisia
- Uruguay
The U.K., Iceland, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Norway are automatically included as being "safe" countries. The U.S., Brazil, Russia, China and many other countries did not make the cut of the “safe list.” The list of safe countries is a recommendation by the European Council. Member states will have the final say in how they will implement this and how they will ease the restrictions for each country on the safe list. This list will be updated every two weeks to consider progress or a spike in the coronavirus outbreak. Quarantine regulations also remain in place in Northern Ireland for people arriving from outside the U.K. and the Republic of Ireland.
England's quarantine restrictions only came into force in early June, in a proposal to stop coronavirus entering the country at a time when U.K. infections were dropping. However, summer holidays for residents in England might be saved since the U.K. government announced at the end of last week that this quarantine period will be eased from July 10 for more than 50 foreign destinations, including France, Italy and Spain. Residents living in in England will now be allowed to fly to these countries without the need to self-isolate for 14 days when they return to the U.K. We expect this list to be updated over the coming days following further discussions between the U.K. and leaders of international countries.
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are yet to decide whether to ease travel restrictions.
