Some selected non-European Union citizens will be allowed into the bloc, but their countries must have opened their own borders to all EU member states too.
Photo: Utrecht Robin/Zuma PressBRUSSELS—European Union countries should remove borders within the bloc and some neighboring states on June 15 and allow citizens from selected countries outside the bloc to return from July 1, the European Commission said Thursday.
The recommendations, which have so far been followed by the EU’s member states during the coronavirus crisis, leaves in doubt when U.S. citizens will be permitted to travel to the bloc. However some EU countries, such as Denmark, have said they plan to keep border restrictions, even on other EU citizens, in place for weeks.
The July 1 opening is aimed at boosting Europe’s depressed tourism industry in time for the crucial summer season. Tourism is one of the EU’s biggest economic sectors and accounts for around 10% of employment in the bloc.
The commission set out several criteria for allowing citizens from non-regional countries to travel there. One is that non-regional third countries must have opened their borders to EU citizens from all member states. A second is that the coronavirus situation in that country must be comparable with or better than the health situation in Europe and that adequate data are available.
The U.S. currently has travel bans on a number of European countries.
Trucks were stuck for hours at borders, such as the German-Polish border near Frankfurt, when coronavirus travel restrictions were in place in March.
Photo: odd andersen/Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesThe commission, the EU’s executive body, wants member states to agree and regularly update a list of permitted non-EU countries. It hopes to avoid some member states opening up to third countries and others not. However there are already signs this will be hard to do. Cyprus, for example, has allowed travelers from Israel to enter. The commission has no power to enforce the rules since border arrangements are controlled by national governments.
The commission is also recommending broadening its list of exemptions for third-country citizens who can travel to the bloc to include international students.
The reopening is the latest sign of a gradual normalization across the bloc as coronavirus infection rates and deaths have fallen sharply in recent months. A number of EU countries have already reopened their borders to EU neighbors after more than a dozen nations imposed tight travel restrictions at the height of the crisis.
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That effectively suspended Europe’s Schengen system of border-free travel and caused severe disruptions to the EU’s single market of goods and services.
The EU imposed the travel restrictions in mid-March as the region became the center of the coronavirus pandemic. The restrictions included all EU member states, except Ireland—which shares a common travel agreement with the non-EU member U.K. and is outside the Schengen zone. U.K. citizens had been allowed to continue going to the bloc under the country’s post-Brexit transition deal with the EU.
The reopening also applies to four EU neighbors who are closely associated with the bloc: Norway, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Iceland.
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The commission recommended Thursday that citizens from western Balkan countries who are seeking to join the EU, including Serbia, Kosovo and Albania, can visit the bloc from July 1.
Write to Laurence Norman at laurence.norman@wsj.com
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