German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Macron urged fellow EU leaders on Thursday to take a firmer line on travel from countries outside the bloc, such as Britain, to combat the Delta variant.
Merkel, arriving in Brussels for a European Union summit, said she would lobby for a more coordinated approach, particularly with regard to letting tourists in from regions where virus variants were widespread.
“We are obviously concerned about the Delta variant,” she told reporters.
Earlier in a speech to parliament in Berlin, she said: “We in Europe are still walking on thin ice.” Macron told EU nations to be extremely vigilant about the variant, which is highly infectious.
Macron said the 27-nation bloc needed to take coordinated decisions on opening borders.
The warnings came as British PM Boris Johnson hinted that UK was close to permitting unrestricted travel abroad for fully vaccinated people.
According to an EU official, EU leaders at the summit discussed the Delta variant and agreed that vaccinations should be speeded up, and that the bloc’s internal and external borders should be opened up cautiously.
EU governments have agreed on a “white list” of 13 countries, including Australia and US, for whose residents travel curbs should be lifted.
The EU CDC estimates Delta variant will account for 90% of cases by August end.