As the spread of the Covid-19 virus continues, and particularly as travel resumes, the EU continues to advocate the implementation of standardised health measures in the transport sector (see EUROPE 12486/6).
After the European Commission, the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA), and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) published a set of recommendations to ensure safe train travel on Tuesday 21 July (available at: https://bit.ly/3fOUzQd ), it was the turn of the Council of the EU to make its contribution on Wednesday 22 July.
The Member States' Ambassadors to the EU (Coreper) have approved draft conclusions on compliance with the necessary hygiene measures in transport.
Member States stated that they were “committed to playing [their] part in regaining the confidence of the European Union citizens in cross-border collective passenger transport systems” and recommended transparent measures that were suited to epidemiological situations and were regularly updated.
They particularly advocated the following measures: - travellers should keep a safe distance from each other, with the exception of members of their family or household; - masks should be worn if travellers are too close together; - cleaning of vehicles should be intensified; - greater use should be made of digital ticketing and border crossing procedures should be facilitated to minimise contact between staff and passengers.
They also called on each sector to comply with the targeted recommendations issued at European level: the recommendations for rail transport mentioned above, for example, or the air transport recommendations published in May by the European Aviation Safety Agency and the ECDC (see EUROPE 12492/5).
The Member States also stressed how important it is that, in order to preserve a level playing field, transport operators that provide equivalent services are subject to equivalent standards.
Lastly, the conclusions require that the Re-open EU platform (see EUROPE 12506/32) be updated, and call on Member States to keep the Commission informed of the rules applicable in their countries. The conclusions can be consulted at: https://bit.ly/2ZTGkUT (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)