With the summer holiday season rapidly approaching, concerns about saving one of Europe’s most important economic engines is on the mind of many, particularly for those who live in areas that are heavily reliant on seasonal tourism for the majority of their income.
As Brussels continues to send mixed signals about how to salvage some of the multi-billion-euro industry in the midst of a global pandemic, tensions are rising as countries like Greece and Italy move forward with plans to reopen their respective countries to tourists who are willing to endure a summer vacation that will look radically different from years past.
The main question for the 27 members of the bloc is whether they will essentially lock out non-EU citizens, a measure that has been criticised by Italy, or resort to exclusive tourism corridors that will only be accessible to European passport holders.
If Brussels opts to endorse a walling off the continent to non-Europeans after the end of the lockdown, it will deprive European Union’s citizens of much-needed income just as the bloc is headed into an economic – and a potential social – abyss, and do further damage to the EU’s already damaged reputation as it will no longer be seen as a welcome destination for all.