Travel to EU ‘could be banned for Brits under Covid rules when Brexit transition period ends’

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UK travel to the Europe will be restricted after the Brexit transition period expires at the end of the month due to Covid-19 rules, it has been reported.

Non-essential visits to the EU by British citizens will be hit by curbs, according to the Financial Times.

Most UK residents will face restrictions on visiting the remaining 27 members of the EU from January 1 when rules permitting free travel within the bloc cease to apply to Britons, the newspaper said.

In response to the reports, a Government spokesperson said: “We cannot comment on decisions that could be taken by other states on public health matters.”

They added: "We take a scientific, risk-based approach to health measures at the border, and it is of course in the interests of all countries to allow safe international travel as we emerge from the pandemic."

The formal end of the transition period will mean that Britons will face an EU regime that only allows non-essential travel from a very limited number of non-EU countries, the report said.

Most UK citizens would only be able to travel to the EU if individual states make provisions for such a move, or the bloc as a whole lessens its pandemic travel curbs, the newspaper said.

The report comes as UK and EU negotiators are set to begin a final push to salvage chances of a post-Brexit trade deal.

Boris Johnson and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen held crunch talks over dinner in Brussels on Wednesday.

They asked their chief negotiators Lord Frost and Michel Barnier to reconvene in the city on Thursday.

But in a statement following three hours of dinner and discussions in Brussels, a senior Number 10 source said it was "unclear" whether the differences between the two sides could be bridged. 

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