EU Reduces List of Safe Third Countries: Serbia and Montenegro Removed
July 17, 2020 - The EU has recently created a so-called "list of 15 safe third countries", and yesterday the list was revised for the first time, leaving Serbia and Montenegro out.
The Council of Europe published what they call "the list of countries for which member states should gradually lift travel restrictions at the external borders'' yesterday, and the revision is that from yesterday, Serbia and Montenegro, Croatia's neighbouring countries, are no longer considered safe by the EU. The Council of Europe explains that the recommendations are made based on the epidemiological situation in each country, and the containment measures undertaken by it.
Residents of Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, and the Vatican are considered as EU residents, and Schengen associated countries (Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway, Switzerland) also take part in this recommendation. Please note that the UK is currently in its transition phase, meaning that the United Kingdom is also included as ''EU''.
Currently, the list of 12+1 safe countries includes:
Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia, Uruguay, and China (subject to confirmation of reciprocity).
The Council has apparently determined that the epidemiological situation, trends and containment measures in Serbia and Montenegro are such that they can't recommend citizens of those two countries to be allowed to enter the EU without any precautions. As we've already reported, Croatia has changed the terms of entry on July 11, and current Croatian rules do not take into account the EU list of safe third countries, so no significant changes should happen because of this EU recommendation on Croatian borders.
The Council recommendation is not a legally binding instrument. This list of third countries should continue to be reviewed every two weeks and may be further updated by the Council.
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EU Creates List of 15 Recommended Safe Third Countries
July 17, 2020 Update: the EU has updated their list of safe third countries. Please find the updated list here.
30 June, 2020 - As was expected, the Council of the European Union adopted a recommendation on the lifting of the ban on non-essential travel into the EU, and created a list of 15 "safe" third countries.
Travel restrictions should be lifted for countries listed in the recommendation, with this list being reviewed and, as the case may be, updated every two weeks. The initial list, valid from July 1st, includes the following countries:
- Algeria
- Australia
- Canada
- Georgia
- Japan
- Montenegro
- Morocco
- New Zealand
- Rwanda
- Serbia
- South Korea
- Thailand
- Tunisia
- Uruguay
- China, subject to confirmation of reciprocity
The United States of America and Russia are noticeably absent from the list.
Residents of Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, and the Vatican should be considered as EU residents for the purpose of this recommendation. Schengen associated countries (Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway, Switzerland) also take part in this recommendation.
For countries where travel restrictions continue to apply, the following categories of people should continue to be exempted from the restrictions:
- EU citizens and their family members
- long-term EU residents and their family members
- travelers with an essential function or need, as listed in the Recommendation.
The Council highlights that the recommendation is not a legally binding instrument. The authorities of the member states remain responsible for implementing the content of the recommendation. They may, in full transparency, lift only progressively travel restrictions towards countries listed.
A Member State should not decide to lift the travel restrictions for non-listed third countries before this has been decided in a coordinated manner.
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