The national ambassadors of the Member States to the EU approved the revised recommendation on non-essential travel within the EU on Friday 21 January. The EU’s European Affairs Ministers will in turn be invited to formally adopt it on Tuesday 25 January.
Presented by the European Commission on 25 November, shortly before the emergence of the Omicron variant (see EUROPE 12840/1), the recommendation calls for an end to measures relating to geographical areas and instead takes into account the vaccination status of travellers in relation to a test or recovery.
The colour system for the ECDC cards will remain in place and will need to incorporate the level of vaccination, but the retention of a ‘dark red’ category will mean that testing or quarantine measures will still be required for people who are unvaccinated or cannot prove they have had Covid-19.
The general principle of this recommendation is that no additional measures should be imposed on people with an up-to-date certificate of vaccination or recovery, or with a negative test, but Member States may still do so. Several already require a test on entry into their territory, even for those who have been vaccinated.
As this recommendation is not binding, the aim is for all Member States to align themselves with it. “Our hope is that all Member States will comply with the recommendation”, an EU diplomat said on 21 January.
The recommendation also includes the 270-day validity of Covid certificates for travel within the EU (270 days after the second or first dose, depending on the vaccine). This period of validity has been confirmed by a delegated regulation adopted in the EU Council, which will enter into force on 1 February, at the same time as the recommendation.
The Commission will later present a revision of the regulation creating the EU Covid digital certificate to extend its legal basis. Link to the text of the recommendation: https://bit.ly/3FJ4Idm (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)