Coronavirus Europe: UK tourists could be banned from EU after Brexit due to pandemic travel rules
Most Britons could be barred from visiting the EU after Brexit under coronavirus travel rules – even if there IS a deal
- British tourists could be banned from visiting EU countries after January 1 under strict coronavirus travel rules
- EU only allows non-essential travel from handful of countries on a low-infection ‘safe’ list, such as Australia
- To qualify for the list, countries must have an infection rate equal to or below European average on June 15
- Rules could still apply even if Boris Johnson strikes 11th hour Brexit deal, unless an exemption is granted
British holidaymakers could be banned from entering the EU after Brexit under strict coronavirus travel rules that affect non-EU countries – unless officials grant a last-minute exemption.
The rules allow non-essential travel into the EU from just a handful of third-party countries where infection rates are very low, such as Australia and New Zealand.
Despite the UK having lower infection rates than 18 of the 27 EU member states, officials say there are currently no plans to add Britain to the ‘safe’ list.
And Britain would not automatically be exempt even if Boris Johnson were to strike an 11th hour deal with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels this week.
British tourists could be banned from travelling to the EU from January 1 under strict coronavirus rules, despite the UK having an infection rate that is below many EU member states (pictured above, Covid infection rate per million people based on a seven day average)
The UK also has a lower death rate from the virus than many other major European countries and tourist destinations, including the likes of Italy, France and Portugal
To qualify for the list, countries must have an infection rate that is equal to or below the EU average on June 15 when cases were very low. Currently, the list includes the likes of Australia and New Zealand, which have rates far below that UK (above)
Speaking on the BBC’s Today programme, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab denied the restrictions were a direct result of Brexit, and said all countries will have to keep travel restrictions under review to deal with the virus.
‘In terms of linking it to Brexit… I don’t think that’s right. The arrangements, whether we’ve got a free trade deal or otherwise, are that Brits can go over there for 90 days in any 180-day period,’ he said.
‘But Covid in the rest of Europe and in the UK remains a live issue and we need to make sure we’ve got control of it and I’m afraid restrictions on travel is something that’s quite likely to be kept under review.’
The only way Britons would be allowed to travel is if the European Council agrees to relax the rules before January 1, when Brexit takes effect, or if individual member states decided to override the rules.
To qualify for the exempt list, countries must have a lower infection rate than the European average on June 15, when infection rates were at rock bottom.
Case totals must also be stable or falling, and other government responses to the pandemic including mask mandates and social distancing rules can also be taken into account.
Currently, the list of exempt non-EU countries includes just nine nations where infection rates are much lower than in the UK.
Aside from Australia and New Zealand, the current list includes: South Korea, Japan, Rwanda, Singapore, Thailand, Uruguay and China.
Of those, Uruguay currently has the highest infection rate of 7.7 cases per 100,000 people, based on a seven-day rolling average.
By comparison, the UK has an infection rate of 22.4 per 100,000 people.
Only two EU countries, Hungary and Croatia, have decided not to apply the travel ban list, the Financial Times reports.
Norway, which is not an EU member state but is part of the extended Schengen border-free zone, has also not applied the list.
But officials in Oslo have already confirmed that Britons who do not live in the country will be banned from entry from January 1, when Brexit takes effect.
A UK government spokesperson said: ‘We cannot comment on decisions that could be taken by other states on public health matters.’
Coronavirus infection rates fell drastically over the summer, before soaring as winter approached, when respiratory illnesses tend to spread faster.
Lockdown measures put in place in most major European countries have caused those rates to drop rapidly, though not as far or as fast as during the first round of lockdowns during the spring.
Germany – widely praised for having one of the best initial virus responses – now has an infection rate on par with the UK after avoiding a full second lockdown.
The country logged another 23,679 cases on Monday, a record one-day total for the second wave of the pandemic, bringing its overall total to 1,242,203.
Another 440 deaths were registered, bringing the overall total to 20,372.
Angela Merkel has now called for tougher measures to be taken in the run-up to Christmas, when Germany planned to relax its restrictions.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab this morning denied that the restrictions were due to Brexit, and said travel curbs will have to be kept under constant review as the coronavirus pandemic moves forward
The deadlock on Brexit is continuing today despite the last-ditch diplomacy from Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen, pictured in Brussels last night
Merkel called for non-essential shops to be closed and social gatherings to be limited further.
The Chancellor added that schools should extend holidays until January 10 or offer online lessons until then.
Speaking about the Christmas break that Germans had been promised, she added that people cannot pick and choose when to listen to the science.
‘The numbers are what they are, so we must do something about them,’ she said.
Meanwhile in France, which had one of the highest infection rates in Europe before the winter lockdown, cases have now fallen under the level seen in the UK.
Non-essential shops were allowed to reopen in November, which has caused cases to begin rising again.
A second round of easing was planned for December 15, but may not go ahead if cases remain at their current level.
Measures to be dropped on December 15 included forcing people to fill out forms to leave their homes.
Britain is teetering on the brink of no deal Brexit after Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen set a final deadline of Sunday for a breakthrough and warned that ‘very large’ gaps remain.
The PM and the EU chief took stock of the dire situation for more than three hours as they ate steamed turbot and scallops – the source of many skirmishes between UK and French fishing boats – at the commission’s HQ in Brussels last night.
But the pair failed to find a way through the impasse that has left trade talks on the verge of collapse, a year after Britain formally left the bloc.
Instead they are ordering Michel Barnier and Lord Frost to re-engage, on the understanding that the plug will be pulled if a solution is not found within four days.
However, it is not clear if they have been given any new political instructions – thought to be critical to shift the deadlock.
Government sources confirmed that Lord Frost and Mr Barnier will resume post-Brexit trade talks in Brussels today in a bid to resolve the outstanding issues.
In a grim assessment, a No10 source said Mr Johnson did not want to leave ‘any route to a possible deal untested’.
‘The PM and Ursula von der Leyen had a frank discussion about the significant obstacles which remain in the negotiations,’ the source said.
‘Very large gaps remain between the two sides and it is still unclear whether these can be bridged. The PM and Ms von der Leyen agreed to further discussions over the next few days between their negotiating teams.
‘The PM does not want to leave any route to a possible deal untested. The PM and Ms von der Leyen agreed that by Sunday a firm decision should be taken about the future of the talks.’
Ms von der Leyen said in a statement: ‘We had a lively and interesting discussion on the state of play on outstanding issues. We understand each other’s positions.
‘They remain far apart. The teams should immediately reconvene to try to resolve these issues. We will come to a decision by the end of the weekend.’
