European countries have collectively issued a list of new guidelines for passengers after agreeing on a coordinated approach to Covid-19 travel within the EU.
The new Council recommendation will allow for free movement during the pandemic for some passengers and will come into play on February 1.
Universal rules will see passengers with a valid EU Digital Covid Certificate avoid additional restrictions on arrival at their destination.
A valid EU digital Covid certificate includes:
- a vaccination certificate for a vaccine approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), where at least 14 and no more than 270 days have passed since the last dose of the primary vaccination series or if the person has received a booster dose
- a negative PCR test result obtained no more than 72 hours before travelling or a negative rapid antigen test obtained no more than 24 hours before travelling
- a certificate of recovery indicating that no more than 180 days have passed since the date of the first positive PCR test result
What if I don't have a valid EU digital Covid certificate
Under the new rules, anyone who does not have a valid EU digital Covid certificate will be required to take a test prior to travelling or no later than 24 hours after arrival - depending on the destination's rules in place.
Transport workers, patients travelling for imperative medical reasons, seafarers and frequent travellers living in border regions should be exempt from this requirement.
Children under 12 years old will not be required to hold an EU digital Covid certificate, however, the same rules apply to children between 12 and 18 years old as to adults.
Emergency brake
These rules will remain in place unless the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control deems a region unsafe under the following criteria:
- testing rate: the number of tests per 100 000 people during the last week
- 14-day cumulative cases: the number of new cases per 100 000 people in the last 14 days
- vaccination uptake
If the pandemic begins to spin out of control in any country at any time, the common travel rules have been designed with an “emergency brake” feature.
Therefore if a member state is marked as a ‘dark red’ zone this would see:
- all non-essential travel to those areas be discouraged
- possible additional measures for non-vaccinated or non-recovered travellers
Under the emergency brake, measures such as testing and quarantine can be introduced, including for EU digital Covid certificate holders and essential travellers.
