

Commission Proposes to Member States to Tighten Rules on Travel Within the Block
In the midst of a growing number of new COVID-19 strain infections found throughout the Member States of the European Union and worldwide, the European Commission has proposed to amend last October's Council Proposal to coordinate steps affecting free movement by tightening these measures.
In an effort of the Commission to ensure better communication and coordination between the Member States in terms of travel within the block, it has recommended to the Member States to apply new rules on travellers coming from other EU states, in order to avoid border closures and blanket travel bans, while making sure the Single Market is still in function.
According to EU Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, while the EU coordinated approach of October was a big step forward, the update is necessary in order to be able to curb the spread of the new variants of COVID-19.
“What we need now in view of the new variants is even more coordination and a joint European effort to discourage non-essential travel. Border closures will not help, common measures will,” the Commissioners said commenting on the new recommendation.
In a press release, the Commission explains the changes imposed to the recommendation of October, which an update to the agreed colour code for the mapping of risk areas, as well as stricter measures for travellers from higher-risk areas.
As per the common colour code maps, the Commission has proposed to add a dark red to it, to identify through it the areas where the 14-day notification rate is more than 500 per 100 000 people.
The most important update to the recommendation is the suggestion to impose stricter rules for travellers from areas that are categorized as high-risk, in particular from the new ‘dark red’ areas.
The Commission advises the member states to require travellers from ‘dark red’ areas to undergo a test prior to arrival, as well as to undergo quarantine as recommended by the Health Security Committee and currently practised by several of the Member States.
“As testing capacity has increased, Member States could make greater use of pre-departure tests also for areas currently mapped as ‘orange’, ‘red’ or ‘grey’. People returning to their Member State of residence should be allowed to take a test after arrival instead,” the Commission notes in its press release.
The Commission also strongly recommends the exemption of border regions’ residents from some travel restrictions, in particular, if they frequently need to cross the border, for instance for family or work reasons.
And finally, the Commission notes that all Member States should also seek to avoid disruptions to essential travel, notably to keep transport flows moving in line with the ‘Green Lanes’ system and to avoid supply chain disruptions.
The recommendation for coordination of measures restricting free movement in the European Union related to the coronavirus pandemic was first unfolded on September 4 and was later approved on October 13.
It included the common colour-coded map broken down by region as well as a common framework for possible measures for travellers, including rules for testing, quarantine, and passenger locator forms.