EU Member States will meet again, on Wednesday 4 January, to define a coordinated response to the rise in Covid-19 cases in China.
They will do so against a backdrop of threats from Beijing, which, on Tuesday 3 January, announced possible reprisals against governments that decide to tighten entry conditions for Chinese travellers, according to AFP.
Three EU Member States (Italy, France and Spain) already decided to reinstate, starting in January, restrictions such as requirements for travellers departing from China to test negative for less than 48 hours.
And the Swedish Presidency of the EU Council has convened a new meeting on the subject, in the IPCR committee (the EU Integrated Political Crisis Response arrangements), after an unsuccessful attempt at coordination last week.
The European Commission, for its part, had also convened a new meeting of the specialised health committee on 3 January, bringing together health experts from the Member States, to prepare for the IPCR group meeting (see other news).
The meeting resulted in a series of recommendations to the IPCR, such as requiring all Member States to test travellers leaving China for the EU, said the EU Commissioner for Health, Stella Kyriakides, on Twitter. On 7 December, the Chinese government lifted all health restrictions in the country, leading to an influx of patients to hospitals and a rise in Covid-19-related deaths.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the EU has issued recommendations (see EUROPE 13083/34) on free movement in the EU in times of pandemic and can activate an ‘emergency brake’, which means that all Member States must proceed in the same way when a variant of interest is discovered or new threats emerge, so the aim is to discuss possible new requirements for travellers arriving from China.
“The Presidency is seeking a common EU approach to the possible introduction of entry conditions. It is important that we quickly put the necessary measures in place” said Jakob Forssmed, Sweden’s Minister for Social Affairs and Public Health, ahead of the IPCR. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)