The decision to lift restrictions on nonessential arrivals into the European Union and Schengen Area for travelers from Taiwan issued by the European Council is sincerely appreciated by the government and people, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs June 18.
In a statement, the council announced that beginning last Friday EU member states and other countries within the Schengen Area should gradually lift restrictions on travelers coming from a recommended list of countries and territories. The list will be updated every two weeks, the council added.
A country can be added to the list if its local COVID-19 cases are fewer than 75 per 100,000 population over the past 14 days, its positivity rate is lower than four percent, its overall capacity to respond to the pandemic is sufficient and it can provide reliable information and data, the council said.
According to the MOFA, the EU has closed its external borders to nonessential travel from most third countries since March 17 last year due to the coronavirus pandemic. The inclusion of Taiwan on the latest list underscores the EU’s confidence in the local pandemic response capacity, the ministry said. (DL-E)
Write to Taiwan Today at ttonline@mofa.gov.tw