The European Commission has made an official request to the European Parliament and European Council to extend the travel ban for another month, to June 15, 2020.
The temporary travel restriction applies to “all non-essential travel from third countries to the EU+ area,” the announcement said.
The ban exempts long-term EU residents, diplomats, and some health-care and transport workers.
Although several EU countries are slowly starting to ease coronavirus restrictions, the situation remains “fragile” across the globe and the bloc must ensure the safety of travel during this pandemic.
The European countries will prioritise opening borders between EU countries before opening up the bloc to the rest of the world.
The current travel restriction applies to what is known as the “EU+ area”: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.
The Commission first proposed the travel ban in March in a bid to slow the spread of the coronavirus. It’s been extended once since.