EU Council recommends lifting Covid travel restrictions for UAE and Bahrain

A protestor holds a placard reading ‘Freedom’ during a demonstration in Marseille against government calls for compulsory vaccination for some workers and the mandatory use of the health pass.

A cinema in Paris. Visitors now need a Covid-19 pass to visit museums or cinemas in France, the first step in a new campaign against what the government said was a stratospheric rise in Delta variant infections.

Police officers arrest a man during a demonstration in Paris, France, against the compulsory vaccination of people in some occupations.

A protester holds a placard reading ‘health pass, first step to hell’ during a demonstration in Paris, France.

A merry-go-round at the Sommerwiese funfair in Bremen, northern Germany. It is one of the first funfairs to open in the country since Covid-19 restrictions were eased.

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People demonstration against the ‘Green Pass’ in Piazza del Popolo, Rome. The Italian government said access to cinemas, stadiums, museums, gyms, swimming pools, theatres and restaurants would be granted only upon presentation of the pass.

People demonstrate against the ‘Green Pass’ in Piazza del Popolo, Rome, Italy.

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A view of the waiting room at a Covid-19 vaccination centre in Haarlem, the Netherlands, where people are invited to go on blind dates during the 15-minute waiting period after receiving their shots.

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People take part in a ‘Wake up Portugal’ demonstration in Porto to contest the Covid-19 digital certificate, among others restrictions imposed by the government to curb the coronavirus.

A Brussels body has recommended that the UAE and Bahrain be added to the EU’s advisory list of third countries for which Covid-19 travel restrictions can be lifted.

It means the UAE and Bahrain join only 14 other non-EU or Schengen Area countries on the list, including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Kuwait, Australia and Canada. The criteria for the removal of restrictions takes into account the epidemiological situation in the third countries and "overall response to Covid-19, as well as the reliability of the available information and data sources”, the Council said.

Its recommendation is not legally binding and the decision for entry ultimately lies with each member state. “Reciprocity should also be taken into account on a case-by-case basis,” it said.

In effect, the Council has recommended that travellers from the UAE and Bahrain be allowed entry into the EU for non-essential travel, even if they are unvaccinated.

Entry for non-essential reasons from countries not on the list is still allowed, but only if the traveller has received a Covid inoculation from either a vaccine manufacturer approved by the European Medicines Agency or which has completed the emergency use listing process of the World Health Organisation, at least 14 days before arrival.

All travellers must have tested negative for Covid-19 by a PCR test taken no more than 72 hours before, regardless of their reason for entry.