After the controversies this summer over colour codes to limit travel in different areas between Member States, the Commission proposed on Friday 4 September an EU Council recommendation calling on Member States to come to an agreement on identical criteria for defining these codes and on measures to be imposed on or recommended to people travelling within the EU.
While the EU27 already started this discussion several days ago, the last meeting having taken place on 2 September (see EUROPE 12551/12), the Commission invited them on Friday to agree on common criteria to enable the ECDC (European Centre for Disease Control) in particular to publish a weekly reference map.
According to this map, an area defined as ‘red’ by the ECDC on the basis of the parameters chosen by the Member States would thus be red for all Member States. This summer, for example, the same zone was red for one member country, but orange, or even green, for another.
On the return of travellers from these so-called at-risk areas, Member States will also be invited, as far as possible, to impose the same provisions or restrictions, between quarantine or mandatory screening.
In recent weeks, “many have felt the impact (of these limitations) at the borders”, said EU Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders, for whom it is “clear that more coordination is needed”.
The Commission is not proposing “any new restrictive measures” (it has no jurisdiction to do so, editor’s note): “we just want to help coordinate” decisions taken at the national level, the Commissioner said.
“We are all in red, orange or green zones, and that changes; people need to know what zone they are in”,said Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson. We must “also avoid a kaleidoscope of measurements”, she added.
The Commission has therefore proposed to support Member States in four areas: – common criteria and thresholds for Member States to use when deciding whether to introduce travel restrictions; – a mapping of the common criteria using an agreed colour code; – a common framework for measures applied to travellers from high-risk areas; – the provision of clear information to the public on the restrictions.
In order to put in place restrictive measures, the following parameters should ideally be studied first: – the total number of newly notified cases of Covid-19 per 100,000 persons in a given area over a 14-day period; – the percentage of positive tests among all Covid-19 tests performed in a given area over a seven-day period; and – the number of Covid-19 tests performed per 100,000 people in a given area over a seven-day period.
As soon as a country of departure has a weekly screening rate of more than 250 per 100,000 persons, the Commission then proposes that Member States should not restrict the free movement of persons from countries where the total number of newly notified Covid-19 cases in a given area is equal to or less than 50 per 100,000 persons over a period of 14 days. Traffic should also not be restricted if the percentage of positive tests among all Covid-19 tests performed in a given area is less than 3%.
According to the Commission, the colour code ‘green’ would apply to areas where the total number of newly notified cases of Covid-19 is less than 25 over a 14-day period and where the percentage of positive tests among all tests is less than 3%.
Also included in the ‘orange’ zone would be areas where the total number of newly notified cases is less than 50 over a 14-day period, but where the percentage of positive tests among all tests is equal to or greater than 3%. These two criteria may be flexible.
Code ‘red’ would apply to areas where the total number of newly notified cases is more than 50 over a 14-day period and where the percentage of positive tests is 3% or more, or where the total number of newly notified cases is more than 150 per 100,000 persons over a 14-day period, the Commission explains.
Finally, the Commission has established a ‘grey’ code corresponding to areas where there is insufficient information or where the number of tests carried out per 100,000 persons is less than 250.
Using these common colour codes, Member States are then asked to determine the corresponding health measures. Thus, for a return from green zones, no precautions will be required. For returns from orange zones, quarantine or screening will be recommended, but not mandatory. Travellers returning from the red or grey zones would have to undergo quarantine – the duration of which is not specified by the Commission – or be tested on arrival, although the institution prefers the test option.
With these somewhat more coherent measures, the Commission therefore hopes to avoid situations where internal borders would have to be closed one after the other, as was the case in March. By warning citizens that they will have to apply this or that measure if they return from a red zone, it will be a kind of incentive not to travel. This would avoid Member States having to carry out numerous checks on arrivals.
Health Ministers’ Discussion
Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides also discussed these coordination measures with EU Ministers on 4 September. “One of the most important tools we have is coordination – I can’t stress this enough”, she said. “We need to put an end to the current confusion and patchwork, and I welcome the strong support of Member States in this regard. I have also made it clear that we must continue to coordinate and strengthen our efforts when it comes to our negotiations with vaccine producers, in a spirit of solidarity.” Reducing quarantine times was one of the points discussed.
Link to the recommendation: https://bit.ly/3lQNlic (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)