European Union member states approved a list of 15 countries around the world that are deemed safe for travel, agreeing that member states should open their border to them for all travel from Wednesday. Unusually among EU member states, Ireland is not part of the agreement because it is not in the Schengen area of free travel and has a Common Travel Area with the United Kingdom. The countries deemed safe are: Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia, and Uruguay. The list is expected to be reviewed every two weeks, and countries could be removed from the safe list if their epidemiological situation changes. To take part, Ireland would need to close off travel to all states but those on the “safe” list.

Source: The Irish Times June 30, 2020 14:53 UTC