The European Commission proposed on Monday 31 May, in response to the invitation of the European Council, that the Recommendation on non-essential travel restrictions in the European Union be revised in the wake of the interinstitutional agreement reached on the ‘EU Digital Covid Certificate’ (see EUROPE 12724/6).
This proposed recommendation, first adopted in October and then tightened earlier this year in response to the worsening health situation (see EUROPE 12647/3), reflects the improved health situation with an increasing proportion of people in the EU being vaccinated.
The European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, has specifically suggested that no restrictions should apply to the free movement of fully vaccinated persons with the certificate, regardless of the Member State of departure.
People who have been fully vaccinated for at least 14 days and hold vaccination certificates that comply with the EU’s Covid Digital Certificate should be exempt from travel-related testing or quarantine, the Commissioner said. He also clarified that Member States remain free to apply such a measure from the first dose of vaccine injected.
Persons who have recovered from Covid-19 and possess certificates that comply with the EU Covid Digital Certificate should also be exempt from travel-related screening or quarantine tests for the first 180 days following a positive PCR test.
Another change is that persons with a compliant certificate should be exempted from possible quarantine obligations. To this end, the Commission proposes a standard validity period of 72 hours for PCR tests and, where accepted by a Member State, of 48 hours for rapid antigen tests.
Emergency brake. Like the recent recommendation on opening up to vaccinated tourists from third countries (see EUROPE 12711/1), an emergency brake has also been introduced. Member States will be able to respond to any further worsening of the pandemic and reinstate restrictions, including quarantine for vaccinated or recovered individuals, for example “prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern or interest that increase transmissibility or disease severity or affect vaccine efficacy has been reported”.
The Commission also proposes that the thresholds of the European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) map be relaxed in light of the epidemiological situation and progress in vaccination. For areas marked orange, it suggests increasing the threshold for reporting cumulative Covid-19 cases from 50 to 75 cases per 100,000 population over the last 14 days. Consequently, for the red zones, the range would increase from 50-150 to 75-150 cases.
In general, for all travellers coming from green zones, no restrictions should be applied, the EU institution says. But for those coming from orange zones, Member States could require a test before return (rapid antigen or PCR). For travellers from red zones, Member States could require them to be quarantined, unless they have been tested before their return. For those coming from dark red areas, the testing and quarantine requirement would remain.
The recommendation further proposes that minors travelling with their parents should be exempt from quarantine where the parents do not need to be quarantined. Children under 6 years of age should also be exempt from travel-related tests.
Doubts. Member States’ national ambassadors to the EU will discuss the new recommendation on Wednesday 2 June. Commissioner Reynders hopes that this will be adopted before mid-June.
According to an EU source, this proposal may not necessarily be welcomed by Member States. Some of them are concerned that third country travellers (who are covered by a separate recommendation) may be favoured over EU nationals in certain circumstances.
The new proposal also does not necessarily reflect the Commission’s commitment to support free testing, as the draft recommendation repeatedly refers to the use of PCR tests. The objective of accessibility of Covid tests, promised in the framework of the certificate regulation, does not seem to be assured, the source commented.
Link to the recommendation: https://bit.ly/3yZbr0P (Solenn Paulic)