In a judgment handed down on Tuesday 5 December (case C-128/22), the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) ruled that, to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, one Member State of the European Union may prohibit non-essential travel to other Member States classified as high-risk areas and impose screening tests and quarantines on people entering its territory.
In Belgium, the travel agency NORDIC INFO is seeking compensation for the economic loss it suffered as a result of the health measures taken by the Belgian government in the spring of 2020 to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to the Court, in order to combat a pandemic, one Member State may prohibit non-essential travel to or from other Member States classified as ‘red zones’. It can also require people entering its territory to undergo screening tests and observe quarantine.
Any regulation of general application must, however, be reasoned, non-discriminatory and contain precise rules, the application of which must be foreseeable for citizens, stresses the European judge. They must also have the right to judicial or administrative review.
In addition, the restrictions on free movement adopted must comply with the principle of proportionality in order to achieve the public health objective, while weighing the measures taken against the interference they entail in the rights and freedoms of the persons concerned.
See the Court’s ruling: https://aeur.eu/f/9z7 (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)