EU leaders agreed, on Thursday 21 January, to subject travellers from a new category, the “dark red” geographical area on the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) map linked to the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, to new restrictions on the movement of people.
“There has been, tonight, a total mobilisation of the EU27 against Covid-19 on two fronts”, declared the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, at the end of the videoconference. “On the one hand, we must succeed in the process of accelerating vaccination, and on the other, we must be mobilised to continue to limit the spread of the virus, especially the new variant”, he continued.
A few hours before the meeting, the ECDC had published a new risk analysis stressing that the likelihood of new variants of concern entering and spreading in the EU and the European Economic Area was “very high” due to their increased transmission. The EU scientific body seems to be particularly concerned about the English variant, which has already been identified in 20 Member States (all except the Czech Republic, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Croatia, Slovenia and Bulgaria).
Limiting the spread
Against this backdrop, EU leaders decided to tighten restrictions on non-essential travel, especially to areas where the virus has been circulating more than elsewhere. These specific high-risk areas could be given a new “dark red” category, stated the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
People coming from these areas will have to be tested before departure and quarantined on arrival in another Member State. All non-essential travel, while not prohibited, should “be very strongly discouraged”, Ms von der Leyen added.
A proposal to this effect will be presented on Monday 25 January at a meeting of the IPCR, the EU’s crisis management forum.
The external borders of the EU are also affected. People coming from non-Member States for essential travel will also have to be tested before departure.
However, frontier workers in the EU must be able to continue to move around, Ms von der Leyen said, and this “targeted” tightening of the rules is intended to ensure that the internal market continues to function properly.
Frontier workers should therefore be exempt from any further restrictions. But it will be up to each Member State to assess the epidemiological situation of its neighbours and take appropriate measures, the President of the Commission added. For her, a border closure would make no sense and would “undermine” the single market.
But “at the same time, we are convinced that restrictions can be envisaged for non-essential travel and the recommendations [of the EU Council adopted in October 2020, editor’s note] can be adapted”, said Mr Michel (see EUROPE 12580/6).
While Belgium had called on 20 January for a complete ban on non-essential travel and Germany had threatened new internal border controls, the EU27 opted for a gradual approach and pledged to coordinate, although not everyone opted for the same measures. Some countries announced new provisions on Thursday evening.
The French President, Emmanuel Macron, announced to his counterparts the introduction, as of Sunday 24 January, of an obligation to present a negative PCR test carried out 72 hours before departure for Europeans travelling to France on non-essential trips. “Frontier workers and land transport in particular will be exempt from this obligation”, indicated a source from the Élysée Palace.
France thus joins a group of member countries such as Belgium, Italy and the Netherlands which already require tests and quarantines for other European nationals when they return to their territory.
Accelerating vaccination
All European leaders also supported the vaccination targets—80% of the elderly and healthcare workers by March and 70% of adults by the summer—proposed by the Commission earlier this week (see EUROPE 12639/1). Some Member States have even announced their intention to go further, such as Germany, which had earlier declared its ambition to vaccinate its entire population by the summer.
“Vaccination is essential to getting out of this crisis. We need certainty of delivery and collaborative efforts to ensure rapid and successful distribution”, said outgoing Estonian Prime Minister Jüri Ratas, referring to delays in deliveries of the vaccine from Pfizer/BioNTech.
In a letter calling on the European Medicines Agency to speed up its licensing work, Austria said it expects AstraZeneca’s vaccine to be approved “next week at the latest”.
EU leaders also raised the issue of a vaccination certificate, the idea being to work with the World Health Organization on a standardised form. The use of this certificate will have to be rigorously discussed later, Ms von der Leyen stressed, pointing out that too many questions were still outstanding.
The EU27 also reaffirmed the need for solidarity in providing doses of the vaccine to neighbouring and developing countries, including through the Covax facility. According to the President of the Commission, the EU can and must set up a European mechanism to make available vaccines that Member States do not use. Helping these countries is also “in our interest”, because it would help to slow down the mutation of the virus, she said.
Lastly, EU leaders welcomed the agreement reached in the EU Council to facilitate the use and recognition of screening tests (see EUROPE 12640/2).
Link to the oral conclusions: http://bit.ly/2Mauxgj (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean, Solenn Paulic, with Mathieu Bion, Léa Marchal and Camille-Cerise Gessant)