EU set to recommend halting nonessential travel from the US

The European Union is set to recommend halting nonessential travel from the U.S. because of the spread of Covid-19, diplomats said on Sunday.

European officials have been considering the move for much of the last month, with the average U.S. infection rate now above that of the EU.

The Slovenian presidency of the EU last week recommended removing the U.S. and five other countries from a list of countries allowed nonessential travel. A final decision is due on Monday. Two diplomats said they weren’t aware of any objections so far.

The EU travel list, which is reviewed every two weeks, isn’t binding on member states, but it has generally set the pattern over the past few months for who can visit the bloc. Some countries may decide to keep permitting U.S. tourists if they can prove they have been vaccinated.

Pressure to remove the U.S. from the travel list has also increased because Washington has maintained a ban on European nonessential travel to the U.S.

Early in August, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned that the EU wouldn’t allow the lack of reciprocity to “drag on for weeks.”

German Chancellor Angela Merkel also raised the issue during her visit to Washington last month. In Brussels, officials complained of the slow progress of a joint U.S.-EU working party set up to resolve the issue.

However, a number of EU countries were eager to keep doors open during the summer tourist season to bring in revenue that has become all the more vital in the economic recession triggered by the pandemic.

The EU decision, taken in June, to allow U.S. travelers to visit was one of a number of actions in Washington and Europe to reset relations after tensions under the Trump administration. It came shortly after President Biden visited Brussels to speak with EU leaders.

At the time, European officials said Mr. Biden’s team told them they would make the ban on European visitors a priority, but weeks later there has been no change.

Flights between the U.S. and Europe rose after Europe reopened its doors to American visitors at the start of July, with big increases in the number of seats sold to air passengers for visits to Spain and Portugal, according to aviation-analytics firm Cirium.