The shepherdess's response to the shepherd?
Less than a week after the United States advised its citizens against traveling to most countries of the European Union, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announces that tourists from the United States will be authorized to visit the European Union in the coming months on condition of being vaccinated against Covid-19.
“Americans, from what I can see, use vaccines approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA),” she explained in an interview with The New York Times.
“This will allow free movement and travel to the European Union”.
"Because one thing is clear: the 27 member states will accept, unconditionally, all those who are vaccinated with vaccines approved by the EMA", she assures us.
According to the New York daily, the new rules could be put in place as early as this summer, as vaccinations intensify around the world.
The "enormous progress" of the United States
The European Medicines Agency has approved the three vaccines in use in the United States: Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech and Johnson & Johnson.
Thanks to an all-out deployment, the United States, which have already distributed 200 million doses of vaccine, could have vaccinated 70% of their adult population in mid-June, "enormous progress," admits Ursula von der Leyen.
Read alsoOn April 18, one in two American adults had received a dose of the vaccine
The New York Times believes that this position of the European executive will allow it to influence member states to implement the vaccine passport.
Transatlantic tourism represents some 60 billion dollars each year, which primarily benefits France, Germany and Italy.
The pandemic has devastated the tourism industry on the European continent, with revenues falling by more than 95% as borders are closed to non-essential travel.
The EU is not alone in wanting to loosen the grip.
Last week Greece - whose economy is heavily dependent on income generated from tourism - said travelers from the EU and five other countries would be exempt from mandatory quarantine upon arrival, provided they were be vaccinated against Covid-19, or be able to test negative for the coronavirus.