"We are going to work intensively, now based on the new European instrument, the digital vaccination certificate, to restore normality in the movement of people between the two sides of the Atlantic, opening these trips to non-essential travel," said Eduardo Cabrita.

According to the minister, the two blocs, European and North American, registered a “path of progress” with regard to the vaccination process, which now allows the beginning of “a time of hope”.

The US Secretary of State for Internal Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, who participated in the same meeting at the Centro Cultural de Belém (CCB), in Lisbon, also spoke of a possible lifting of restrictions on movement between the EU and the USA, having taking into account the “dedication” of the two blocs to the fight against the pandemic.

“We also talked about trying to lift restrictions so that we can travel between our countries, not only to take into account the economic imperative, but also so that families can get together again, some of which have not seen each other for a year”, he said.

In his intervention, Mayorkas assured that “America is once again committed to the transatlantic partnership”, considering it “increasingly important in a world where challenges have no borders”.