EU Calls for Prolonged Restriction on Non-Essential Travel Among Member States

The European Commission asked Schengen Area member states to extend restrictions on non-essential travel until May 15 to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, the commission said April 8. The European Union originally requested a 30-day travel ban, but the virus requires “more than 30 days to be effective,” the commission said. The commission stressed that such a travel ban can only be effective if it is adopted by all EU and Schengen states “at all borders, with the same end date and in a uniform manner.”