EU Countries Should Balance "Blanket Travel Bans" To the UK

The European Commission advised on Tuesday that countries of the block "discourage all non-essential travel until further notice." This following an emergency meeting on Monday to discuss the worldwide concern over a new SARS-CoV-2 strain identified in the United Kingdom.

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Several European countries have banned flights from Britain attempting to halt the spread of the new SARS-CoV-2 mutation . Italy already reported the first case of the new strain. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization said that the strain is neither more lethal than the SARS-CoV-2 nor resilient to the existing COVID-19 vaccine.

In this sense, "blanket travel bans should not prevent thousands of EU and UK citizens from returning to their homes" Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders remarked.

The European Commission also recommends that "Union citizens and UK citizens traveling to their Member State or country of residence as well as third-country nationals that enjoy EU free movement rights should be exempted from further temporary restrictions provided that they undergo a test or quarantine."

Nonetheless, the authorities recalled that the transition period for Brexit expires on December 31. Hence, as of 1 January 2021, the United Kingdom will become a third country and member states should implement the existing temporary restrictions for non-essential travel to the European Union.