The European Council has today adopted a recommendation on a
coordinated approach to the restrictions of free movement in the European Union
in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The proposal is based on a “traffic light” map with colours based on the
number of newly notified cases per 100,000 population in the last 14
days, the number of tests per 100,000 population carried out in the
last week and the percentage of positive tests carried out in the
last week.
Michael Roth, Germany’s minister of state for Europe, said: “Travel
restrictions have made it difficult for some of our citizens to get to work, to
university or to visit their loved ones. It is our common duty to ensure
coordination on any measures which affect free movement and to give our
citizens all the information they need when deciding on their travel.”
The proposal would see free movement between green regions and
proportionate measures in place for travel to and from orange and red regions.
The Council said, “Member states should in principle not refuse entry to
persons travelling from other member states.”
However, the proposal has come in for criticism as it says member states “that consider it necessary to introduce restrictions
could require persons travelling from non-green areas to undergo quarantine or undergo
a test”.
IATA has responded to the Council's decision saying this does not deliver certainty and “falls far short
of what it was supposed to deliver”.
IATA, along with other aviation bodies, had wanted a common
pre-departure Covid-19 testing framework to replace quarantines for passengers
travelling from high-risk areas, in order to re-establish freedom of movement
in Europe.
It says the proposal means that borders effectively remain closed
and “does not create a sufficient window of certainty for travellers”.
IATA, ACI Europe and A4E instead support the Testing Protocol
initiative, which it says “presents an opportunity to address the risk of
importation of cases from high-risk areas to low-risk areas far more
effectively than quarantine”.