London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Jul 31, 2025

Why Americans shouldn't be surprised that Europe is blocking them

Why Americans shouldn't be surprised that Europe is blocking them

The EU unveiled a list of countries whose residents can start traveling into Europe in July. The U.S. is not one of them - and for good reason.

The EU on Tuesday released its much-anticipated list of countries whose residents will be permitted to travel into the region starting tomorrow.

Who’s in? Residents of Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay. If China reopens its borders to EU residents, it will also be included.

Who’s out? Everyone else, including the United States.

The announcement was a heavy blow for Americans — and not just those with summer travel plans to Europe.


What happened?

When EU draft lists failed to include the U.S. among countries likely to be welcomed next month, media reaction was swift. It was “embarrassing,” a “blow to U.S. prestige,” and a “stinging rebuke to the Trump administration’s management of the coronavirus scourge.”

It was also entirely expected.

On June 11, the EU published a four-part checklist that set forth “objective criteria” to create a “common list” of countries to lift travel restrictions into the EU and Schengen Area countries.

The checklist’s main question: Is a country in a comparable or better “epidemiological situation” as the average EU nation in terms of new cases, infection trends and the ability to test, trace, contain, treat and report on the pandemic?

Additional factors include the ability to apply containment measures during travel and whether a country has lifted travel restrictions toward the EU.


So, what’s the ‘epidemiological situation’ in the U.S.?

Let’s run the U.S.’s stats through the EU’s checklist.

New cases: On June 11 - the day the EU announced the criteria necessary to gain entrance - there were nearly 2 million confirmed Covid-19 cases in the U.S.; today there more than 2.6 million cases.

Trends: Cases are rising in 36 states across the U.S., including the three most populous states of California, Texas and Florida. Last Wednesday, 12 states hit record highs in daily new cases based on their seven-day averages. Hospitalizations due to Covid-19 also rose in 16 states last week.

Testing, tracing and containment: The U.S. has done more testing per capita than many EU nations, though contact tracing in the U.S. is stumbling, and only a handful of states are projected to be on track to contain the coronavirus.

Travel containment measures: Airports and airlines have rolled out a host of new safety precautions, though U.S. airlines were slow to enforce mask usage during flights, a situation that is now changing.

Reciprocity: Residents of Schengen Area countries, as well as the U.K., are still not allowed to enter the U.S. pursuant to a travel ban issued in March.

All in all, EU officials were not impressed.

“I would not expect the United States to be even close to make the cut at this time,” said Annika Hinze, professor of political science at Fordham University.

“There is simply no cohesive national policy to curb the spread of Covid-19 in the United States, whereas even comparably federalized systems in the EU, such as Germany, were able to devise a national strategy to combat the virus.”


Why the rejection hurts

Beyond canceled travel plans, the list by EU senior diplomats is a hard pill to swallow as it is, in essence, the world’s first government-backed, scientifically-applied, allies-be-damned analysis on which countries are successfully containing Covid-19 infections.

Is the EU’s approach flawless? Probably not. Making international comparisons is notoriously difficult; death counts are not standardized and testing rates vary as does government transparency.

But it represents a good faith effort to apply a neutral, apolitical approach to reopening global borders. The U.S. reportedly lobbied intensely to get onto the safe list.

A little face can be saved for America in that the U.S. isn’t so much being “banned” from entering Europe as it simply isn’t being invited to the party (yet). Nobody likes to be left off the guest list though, especially not a soiree this big, and when peers like Canada and Australia and rivals like China made the cut.


What the U.S. needs to do

To travel into the EU again, the U.S. needs to increase testing and contact tracing, limit people from congregating, require masks in public and enforce stay-at-home orders, said Hinze.

She called Trump’s announcement to withdraw funding from testing and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s failure to walk back the reopening process in Texas, while restricting cities like Houston and Austin from implementing their own precautionary measures, “deeply worrisome to EU observers.”

Without decisive policy changes including shutdowns in places like Texas where cases have spiked, Hinze said, “I cannot see the EU changing its mind regarding the travel restrictions vis-a-vis U.S. citizens anytime soon.”

Comments

Stephen DeVoy 5 year ago
Actually, the EU's stand is bigoted. It is based on nationality alone. Americans that have been outside of the USA and in safe countries throughout the pandemic are banned for no other reason than being a USA national. That's bigotry. A non-bigoted approach would take into account where the visitor has been for the last 14 days and whether they test positive for COVID-19.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Former Judge Charged After Drunk Driving Crash Kills Comedian in Brazil
Jeff Bezos hasn’t paid a dollar in taxes for decades. He makes billions and pays $0 in taxes, LEGALLY
China Increases Use of Exit Bans Amid Rising U.S. Tensions
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Procter & Gamble to Raise U.S. Prices to Offset One‑Billion‑Dollar Tariff Cost
House Republicans Move to Defund OECD Over Global Tax Dispute
Botswana Seeks Controlling Stake in De Beers as Anglo American Prepares Exit
Trump Administration Proposes Repeal of Obama‑Era Endangerment Finding, Dismantling Regulatory Basis for CO₂ Emissions Limits
France Opens Criminal Investigation into X Over Algorithm Manipulation Allegations
A family has been arrested in the UK for displaying the British flag
Mel Gibson refuses to work with Robert De Niro, saying, "Keep that woke clown away from me."
Trump Steamrolls EU in Landmark Trade Win: US–EU Trade Deal Imposes 15% Tariff on European Imports
ChatGPT CEO Sam Altman says people share personal info with ChatGPT but don’t know chats can be used as court evidence in legal cases.
The British propaganda channel BBC News lies again.
Deputy attorney general's second day of meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell has concluded
Controversial March in Switzerland Features Men Dressed in Nazi Uniforms
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
Thai Civilian Death Toll Rises to 12 in Cambodian Cross-Border Attacks
TSUNAMI: Trump Just Crossed the Rubicon—And There’s No Turning Back
Over 120 Criminal Cases Dismissed in Boston Amid Public Defender Shortage
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
Trump Announces $550 Billion Japanese Investment and New Trade Agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
×