The European Commission issued guidelines to Member States’ border guards to enable them to apply temporary restrictions on non-essential travel to the EU, it announced in a press release on Monday 30 March.
While all Member States (with the sole exception of Ireland) and all Schengen countries have been applying this measure, proposed by President Ursula von der Leyen on 16 March (see EUROPE 12447/6), the Commission has relied on the recommendations of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency and the Centre for Disease Prevention and Control in issuing these guidelines, which also address aid for repatriating Europeans stranded abroad, the minimum level of service for visas at Member States’ consulates and embassies abroad, and how to deal with difficulties linked to overstays caused by these travel restrictions.
It therefore calls on the Member States not to penalise citizens of non-Member States whose visas have expired but who are unable to leave the EU because of the reduction in flights and means of transport.
The guidelines also specify the categories of travellers who should not be allowed to travel (when they pose health risks), as well as those who should be allowed, including EU nationals seeking to return home and their family members.
For travellers from non-Member States, the Commission confirms the categories of persons who can deviate from the rules and travel to the EU, namely health professionals, diplomats, passengers in transit, and persons wishing to apply for international protection.
The guidelines also give hygiene instructions to border guards and call for priority to be given to checks on entry into the EU, even if it means temporarily relaxing checks on exit.
Link to the guidelines: https://bit.ly/39rmNww (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)