Travel....

Von der Leyen: EU set to let vaccinated US travelers visit over summer

Individual countries will ultimately have final say, but Commission president says American situation ‘is improving.’

BY MIRIAM WEBBER

U.S. travelers who are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus should be able to travel to the EU over the summer, according to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

“The Americans, as far as I can see, use European Medicines Agency-approved vaccines,” von der Leyen told the New York Times on Sunday, adding, "This will enable free movement and the travel to the European Union."

All the vaccines currently administered in the U.S. — from Moderna, Pfizer/BioNTech and Johnson & Johnson — have also been approved by the EU regulator, which von der Leyen said would allow the bloc to open its doors to American tourists after European countries restricted nonessential travel from the U.S. over a year ago amid the pandemic.

Changes to restrictions will depend “on the epidemiological situation, but the situation is improving in the United States, as it is, hopefully, also improving in the European Union,” von der Leyen said.

While von der Leyen's comments may indicate an impending shift in recommendations on travel restrictions from the European Commission, individual member countries will have the final say on whether U.S. tourists can cross their borders: Greece, for example, has already said Americans with proof of a negative coronavirus test or full vaccination may enter its borders.

Von der Leyen did not elaborate on when and how tourists from the U.S. would be granted entry into the EU.

The European Commission has put forward a proposal for its own digital vaccine certificate, but individual member countries have already started working on their own versions, raising questions about how these will all function together.