Coronavirus: EU wants all borders re-opened by the end of the month

Commission to propose end of internal travel restrictions by 1 July

(AP)

All EU member states should lift their temporary coronavirus travel restrictions on each other by the end of the month, Brussels has said.

The EU’s home affairs commissioner, Ylva Johansson, was speaking ahead of a virtual meeting of national home affairs ministers on Friday.

The 27 member states will discuss how to restore freedom of movement as the pandemic abates across the continent, with many EU countries no longer reporting daily coronavirus deaths.

“I think we’re coming very close to a situation where we should lift all the internal border restrictions and border checks,” Ms Johansson told the channel Euronews.

“I’m going to propose that the member states should lift all the internal border checks as soon as possible. And I think a good date should be the end of June.”

Officials say they want internal restrictions lifted in a “coordinated, non-discriminatory and proportionate way”.

Europe’s internal rail and air services have been largely scaled back during the crisis, with some countries now gradually returning to a normal timetable.

Ministers will also also the virtual Council meeting to discuss how long travel restrictions on third country nationals from outside the EU should be maintained.

A coordinated ban on non-essential travel from outside the EU was imposed at the start of the crisis by the member states at the initiative of the Commission.

The UK has belatedly imposed its own restrictions on incoming travellers, requiring almost all incoming passengers to quarantine at home for two weeks, including returning UK residents.

This measure comes despite the fact the UK is now reporting a much higher infection and death rate than all of its neighbours.

Countries like Belgium have lifted their travel restrictions to the UK, meaning Britons can now visit Belgium freely, but will have to quarantine on they return – despite the UK reporting 176 deaths yesterday and Belgium reporting around 20.

By some measures, the UK is reporting as many daily deaths as the entire European Union combined, though different methodologies make this a rough comparison.