EU Commission proposes harsher travel restrictions

The European Commission is pushing for further travel restrictions both within its borders as well as for passengers coming from third countries.

This plan builds on proposals announced by President von der Leyen last week to to add a dark-red, very high risk category to the bloc’s shared map of the health situation “to reflect the high level of infections partially linked to new coronavirus variants,” Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders said Monday.

“There’s an urgent need to reduce the risk of travel-related infections to lessen the burden on overstretched health systems,” he explained

Travellers from those areas will be required to take a test before departure and undergo quarantine, according to such plans. “A dark red zone would show that in this zone, the virus is circulating at a very high level,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had proposed. “Persons travelling from dark red areas could be required to do a test before departure, as well as to undergo quarantine after arrival.”

Von der Leyen said that with infections rising and contagious variants of the virus spreading fast, non-essential travel should be “strongly discouraged” within the EU but essential workers and goods must be able to cross borders smoothly.

via Politico, Reuters