The European Commission is going to write to all the Member States of the European Union to remind them that it “wants them to apply the recommendations” on restrictions of free movement within the EU as set out in the European recommendation adopted at the end of January, announced Commission spokesman for Justice, Christian Wigand, on Monday 15 February.
He thus confirmed the announcements made the day before by the European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, who was questioned by the Belgian media about the measures put in place by Belgium extending the ban on all travel outside the country until the beginning of April.
Over the weekend, the controversy escalated after German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer reproached the Commission for criticising Berlin over the internal border controls decided over the weekend (see EUROPE 12657/9). The German minister hinted that the Commission was preventing Germany, through its criticism, from protecting itself from the virus mutations.
Berlin has introduced controls at the land borders with the Czech Republic and Austria’s Tyrol. The German authorities are also said to be considering reintroducing controls at Moselle, a French department with many cases of the variants.
“Member States must avoid unilateral measures”, Mr Wigand added. As for Belgium, the Commission “has some concerns” about the proportionality of the measures and has asked the government for clarifications, he said.
The recommendations, adopted on 29 January, establish a new ‘dark red’ zone, justifying new sanitary obligations, such as proof of a negative PCR test and the respect of a quarantine period. The very purpose of these measures is to prevent a return to internal border controls. However, they are not binding, as States can override them.
The subject will be addressed by the General Affairs Council of the EU on Tuesday 23 February. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)