Europe has been left reeling as U.S. President Donald Trump announced a ban on visitors from the European Schengen area, for at least the next month. 

The response from Brussels was far from the fiery rhetoric so often used by Trump, and some even questioned if it was actually strong enough. 

In a joint statement, the Commission and Council presidents said: "The European Union disapproves of the fact that the U.S. decision to impose a travel ban was taken unilaterally and without consultation."

But Trump was far more accusatory when he made the shock announcement on Wednesday night.

During that televised address from the Oval Office, he placed the blame at Europe's doorstep, saying it had failed to take the same actions as the U.S. did when it halted travel from China and that now, as a result, "a large number of new clusters in the United States were seeded by travelers for Europe."

That took many here in Brussels by surprise, to say the least.

In a tweet on Thursday morning, European Council President Charles Michel said European officials needed to assess the situation and that economic disruption must be avoided.

There is little hope that can actually happen. This travel ban will be in place for 30 days, a significant period of time for businesses.

And Europe is already grappling with the economic repercussions of this outbreak. It's losing at least a billion euros ($1.1 billion) every month in tourism receipts, several European airlines are near collapse, and consumers are avoiding – and in some places have been outright banned – from going to shops and restaurants. There are growing concerns that COVID-19 will tip Germany and Italy into recession, and perhaps the wider bloc, too. 

Lufthansa to defy ban

Despite the new travel guidelines ordered by the U.S. administration, German airline Lufthansa group said it will continue to offer 313 connections to 21 destinations in the U.S. until 28 March.

The flights mentioned are departing from Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Belgium. The airline said it will continue to investigate alternative flight schedules so passengers will be able to connect through major hubs.

Further east, the prime minister of Slovakia, Peter Pellegrini, has followed the U.S.'s lead, and shut its borders to non-residents – and even shut down its international airports. 

Along with other European nations including Ireland, which announced measures today, Slovakia will close its schools and cancel sporting events. This action has been taken despite the central European nations only confirming 16 cases of COVID-19 so far. 

After the emergency proclamation was made, European shares and indices such as the Stoxx 600 slid 6.3 percent, the DAX in Frankfurt fell 10 percent and the Madrid IBEX was down 11 percent. 

Airlines have been thrown into turmoil, especially as Trump's announcement caused confusion because it was not immediately clear who was affected. It led to passengers leaving flights before take-off, and issues with flights to the UK and the Republic of Ireland, despite the fact neither country is included in the prohibition.  

A spokesperson for one affected airline, Air France - KLM, told CGTN: "We are assessing the effect of the decree in our operations," but could not expand further. 

So, certainly, this ban from the U.S. is piling on to what already is a rather dire economic situation for Europe.