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Europe suggests that people with Covid passports be allowed to travel freely across Member States
The European Union has revised its travel rules on Tuesday January 25 and agreed that everyone with a Covid passport will be able to travel freely across member States without any further restrictions.
The announcement was made after several European countries, such as Ireland and France, caused considerable tension by implementing their own safety measures on EU travellers, such as additional testing requirements and quarantine. With the new ruling, the old ‘traffic light system’ developed by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), which grades nations based on epidemiological criteria, will be abolished.
From now on, the vaccination certificate will be valid for nine months unless the holder receives a booster dose, in which case it will be extended indefinitely. Therefore, travellers with an EU Covid passport that certifies their complete vaccination schedule, their recent recovery from the disease or a negative test prior to travel will be able to move freely between the 27 member countries.
The EU’s General Affairs ministers have given their approval to the changes that will come into force on February 1, although they are still recommendations and not binding laws; Member States retain the right to control their borders how they wish, and so individual countries are under no obligation to adopt the new rules.
However, the EC has taken the opportunity to encourage all countries to remove additional restrictions in light of the global spread of the Omicron variant, warning that harsher measures are no longer justified or practical.
“We as all member states to quickly apply the common rules to ensure coordination and clarity for our citizens and travellers,” Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders said, appealing for “compliance without delay” with the revised recommendations.
The Spanish Secretary of State for the EU, Pascual Ignacio Navarro Rios, considers it a “great advance” that the travel recommendations have been reviewed, and pointed out that the approach adopted by Europe is the one which Spain already follows.
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