Today (July 30), the European Commission will announce the results of the most recent two week examination of countries they deem safe to enter the EU/Schengen+ countries. For American tourists holding out hope of an August vacation on the shores of Spain or a Greek island, that does not look like it will happen as America is again left off the safe list of countries. Not only that, one more country has been removed as well and none have been added.
American Tourists Still Not Welcome in Europe – July 30
Every two weeks, the European Commission makes a recommendation to member countries about which countries should be put on the safe list (due to epidemiological data in the other countries) and which countries should be removed from the safe list. Since the original 14 countries were put on the first safe list on July 1, not a single country has been added to the safe list.
Algeria Joins the “No” List
Last time (two weeks ago), the European Commission recommended the removal of Serbia and Montenegro from the safe list. Today, they will announce one more country should be removed from the safe list, bringing the original list down to just 11 countries. This latest country slated for removal is Algeria. I am not at all surprised with this one as I was a bit surprised to find it on the original list in the first place.
Here are the current countries on the “Safe List” for travel to the EU/Schengen+ countries:
- Australia
- Canada
- Georgia
- Japan
- Morocco
- New Zealand
- Rwanda
- South Korea
- Thailand
- Tunisia
- Uruguay
Of those countries, Australia and New Zealand citizens are likely not making the trip since any travel would take them through other countries that may have cases present as well as the fact that many citizens can either not leave or not return, if they do leave.
There are also some countries on that list that are not high sources of tourism to Europe either so there is not likely an abundance of travelers entering Europe. Now, like normal, any country in the EU/Schengen+ is free to welcome any country they would like but there would have to be internal border controls enacted to keep those travelers from entering other European countries that are not open to those travelers.
What About Greece?
Greece had expressed a desire to possibly open to Americans as of August 1, if the cases were dropping and testing in Greece was at sufficient capacity to handle many incoming tourists. Due to an uptick of cases each day in Greece (and most of them not due to travelers), there are more regulations being enacted in Greece to keep the numbers down. Between that and the fact that the tourist season never really materialized the way they had hoped, I think it is safe to say that Greece will follow the Commission’s recommendation.
Who Is Allowed?
Even countries that have had improved infection numbers did not make the new list – no new country has made the list. This is likely out of an abundance of caution from Europe since many other countries would not make as significant an economical impact as Russia, the UK, and the US would.
Croatia is allowing Americans but they need to have a reservation in-country and also a negative Covid test to enter.
Remember, this does not mean that all Americans are banned from Europe – check this page to see what would qualify an American to visit Europe right now.
