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The Coronavirus situation in the European Union and Schengen Area countries may not be as bad as it was last winter. However, travelling to a large share of these countries remains risky, and only travel to five EU countries is considered safe.

Updating the maps published in support of the Council Recommendation on a coordinated approach to the restriction of free movement within the block amid COVID-19, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has revealed that the only countries that remain green in the maps are Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania (except for Bucharest).

Countries coloured green in the maps are those which have less than 50 cases detected and a test positivity rate under four per cent during the previous 14 days, or a notification rate less than 74 and less than one per cent test positivity rate within the same period.

Travel to these countries is safe, and travellers reaching other EU countries from these five should not be subject to any entry restrictions upon arrival.

Countries in the orange category, on the other side, are those in which the 14-day notification rate is under 50, and the test positivity rate is four per cent or more, as well as countries in which the two weeks notification rate is 50 or above, or it is less than 75 when test positivity rate is one per cent or more.

According to the updated maps of August 26, the following countries and territories are coloured in orange:

Countries in red, on the other hand, are those which have a case notification rate that ranges between 75 to 200 when the test positivity rate of four per cent or more, as well as those with a case notification rate over 200 but less than 500. Those over 500 are categorized as dark red.

>> EU Health Agency Says Its Less Safe to Travel to Germany & Sweden Now

The Member States are advised to impose travel restrictions as pre-departure tests and quarantine requirements for persons travelling from areas in red and, in particular, the dark red category.

This should also apply to essential travellers provided that this does not have a disproportionate impact on the exercise of their function or need. Transport workers, however, should in principle be exempted from testing and quarantine/self-isolation requirements, the EU Commission advises.

Currently, according to ECDC, it is risky to travel to the following countries, which are coloured completely in red: Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Lithuania, Latvia, Lichtenstein and Bulgaria.

Whereas the following are coloured as partly red: France, Italy, Greece, Ireland, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands. Countries with only one red region are Norway and Finland.

The riskiest regions for travellers are currently those coloured in dark red, which are as follows:

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End of Summer 2021: Which EU Countries Are Safe & Which Are Very Risky to Travel to According to ECDC - SchengenVisaInfo.com -...

EU institutions and bodies in brief

In the EU's unique institutional set-up:

The European Council sets the EU's overall political direction but has no powers to pass laws. Led by its President - currently Charles Michel - and comprising national heads of state or government and the President of the Commission, it meets for a few days at a time at least twice every 6 months.

There are 3 main institutions involved in EU legislation:

Together, these three institutions produce through the "Ordinary Legislative Procedure" (ex "co-decision") the policies and laws that apply throughout the EU. In principle, the Commission proposes new laws, and the Parliament and Council adopt them. The Commission and the member countries then implement them, and the Commission ensures that the laws are properly applied and implemented.

Decision-making in the EU - more on EU law-making procedures

List of presidencies of the Council of the EU

Two other institutions play vital roles:

The powers and responsibilities of all of these institutions are laid down in the Treaties, which are the foundation of everything the EU does. They also lay down the rules and procedures that the EU institutions must follow. The Treaties are agreed by the presidents and/or prime ministers of all the EU countries, and ratified by their parliaments.

The EU has a number of other institutions and interinstitutional bodies that play specialised roles:

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Institutions and bodies | European Union

This may take a very long time to happen.

Some countries are now working to become part of the European Union.These countries are:

To become part of the European Union,these countries must workto make all laws and values of the European Unionhappen in them.

The European Union made the Schengen Area.

The Schengen Area is an area without borders.In this area, people can travel from country to country freely and easily.They do not have to go through checks and controlswhen they pass from one country to another.

Thanks to the Schengen Area, it is now easier for peopleto travel for work or tourism.

The Schengen Area was made in 1985.Today 22 out of the 27 countries of the European Unionare part of the Schengen Area.

These countries are:

Also, 4 countries outside the European Unionare part of the Schengen Area:

That means that people can travel freely and easilyfrom one of these countries to another.This way it is easier for people to visit any of these countriesfor tourism or for work.

In every country of the European Unionpeople speak their own language.The European Union protects the right of peopleto communicate in their own language.

That is why the European Unionmakes all important information and documentsin all the languages that people speak in its countries:

This way all people in the European Unioncan get important information in their own languageand understand it.

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Easy to read - The European Union | European Union

European Community (EC), previously (from 1957 until Nov. 1, 1993) European Economic Community (EEC), byname Common Market, former association designed to integrate the economies of Europe. The term also refers to the European Communities, which originally comprised the European Economic Community (EEC), the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC; dissolved in 2002), and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom). In 1993 the three communities were subsumed under the European Union (EU). The EC, or Common Market, then became the principal component of the EU. It remained as such until 2009, when the EU legally replaced the EC as its institutional successor.

The EEC was created in 1957 by the Treaty of Rome, which was signed by Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany. The United Kingdom, Denmark, and Ireland joined in 1973, followed by Greece in 1981 and Portugal and Spain in 1986. The former East Germany was admitted as part of reunified Germany in 1990.

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international trade: The European Economic Community

The European Coal and Steel Community represented only an initial step in the movement for European integration. On March 25, 1957, its...

The EEC was designed to create a common market among its members through the elimination of most trade barriers and the establishment of a common external trade policy. The treaty also provided for a common agricultural policy, which was established in 1962 to protect EEC farmers from agricultural imports. The first reduction in EEC internal tariffs was implemented in January 1959, and by July 1968 all internal tariffs had been removed. Between 1958 and 1968 trade among the EECs members quadrupled in value.

Politically, the EEC aimed to reduce tensions in the aftermath of World War II. In particular, it was hoped that integration would promote a lasting reconciliation of France and Germany, thereby reducing the potential for war. EEC governance required political cooperation among its members through formal supranational institutions. These institutions included the Commission, which formulated and administered EEC policies; the Council of Ministers, which enacted legislation; the European Parliament, originally a strictly consultative body whose members were delegates from national parliaments (later they would be directly elected); and the European Court of Justice, which interpreted community law and arbitrated legal disputes.

Members revamped the organization several times in order to expand its policy-making powers and to revise its political structure. On July 1, 1967, the governing bodies of the EEC, ECSC, and Euratom were merged. Through the Single European Act, which entered into force in 1987, EEC members committed themselves to remove all remaining barriers to a common market by 1992. The act also gave the EEC formal control of community policies on the environment, research and technology, education, health, consumer protection, and other areas.

By the Maastricht Treaty (formally known as the Treaty on European Union; 1991), which went into force on November 1, 1993, the European Economic Community was renamed the European Community and was embedded into the EU as the first of its three pillars (the second being a common foreign and security policy and the third being police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters). The treaty also provided the foundation for an economic and monetary union, which included the creation of a single currency, the euro. The Lisbon Treaty, ratified in November 2009, extensively amended the governing documents of the EU. With the treatys entry into force on Dec. 1, 2009, the name European Community as well as the pillars concept were eliminated.

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European Community | European economic association ...

A total of 37,800 people sought international protection in the European Union countries in May 2021, according to the recent report of the European Asylum Support Office (EASO).

The agency revealed that the main origin countries in May 2021 were Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, stressing that Afghans logged more applications for the third consecutive month, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.

According to the report, citizens from West African countries accounted for a significant number of applications filed for international protection in the European Union countries in May 2021.

The agency revealed that Moroccans, Tunisians, and Algerians lodged surprisingly few applications over the past 12 months, even though many nationals of these countries attempted to reach European countries in an unlawful way.

Nationals of Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria have been the most prominent after Syrians in terms of illegal border-crossings detected at the external EU border over the past 12 months. Anyway, they lodged fewer asylum applications during the same period than the number of detected illegal border-crossings, the statement clarifies.

On the other hand, asylum applications were higher than illegal border-crossings for all other main origin countries, indicating that many citizens of Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria who unlawfully entered the European Union countries didnt apply for international protection possibly due to low recognition rates for these nationalities.

The report reveals that West Africans accounted for a large number of applications lodged for international protection in the EU countries (5,500 applications) in May. Nigerians filed a total of 1,300 applications in May, remaining the most significant group among West Africans.

The relatively high number of asylum applications by West Africans partly reflects increased irregular migration on the Western African road towards the Canary Islands, the report reads.

In May, self-claimed unaccompanied minors filed 1,500 applications for international protection in EU countries, representing 4 per cent of applications filed in May. More than two-fifths of applications were from Afghans, followed by Syrians and Bangladeshis.

In May, asylum authorities in European Union countries issued 41,500 first instance decisions.

This was lower than in April (- 17 per cent) as far fewer decisions were issued on repeated applications, which had been numerous in recent months, the statement reads.

However, despite the decline, the number of first instance decisions issued exceeded the number of applications.

The recognition rate in the EU countries in May 2021 was 32 per cent. The recognition rates were especially high for Eritreans (80 per cent), Syrians (75 per cent), and Somalis (59 per cent).

Previously, the EASO report revealed that in 2020, a total of 48,578 Afghans applied for asylum in the European Union countries, remaining the second-largest group of applicants in the EU.

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EASO: 37,800 People Applied for International Protection in EU Countries in May - SchengenVisaInfo.com - SchengenVisaInfo.com