Recommendation 2021/816 - Council Recommendation (EU) 2021/816 20 May 2021 amending Recommendation (EU) 2020/912 on the temporary restriction on non-essential travel into the EU and the possible lifting of such restriction - Main contents

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 182/1

On 30 June 2020, the Council adopted Recommendation (EU) 2020/912 on the temporary restriction on non-essential travel into the EU and the possible lifting of such restriction (1).

On 2 February 2021, the Council amended Recommendation (EU) 2020/912 on the temporary restriction on non-essential travel into the EU and the possible lifting of such restriction (2) in order to update the criteria used to assess whether non-essential travel from third countries is safe and should be allowed.

The same amendment introduced mechanisms to contain the spread of variants of concern of the virus SARS-COV-2 in the EU+ area (3).

Since then, mass vaccination campaigns against the virus SARS-COV-2 have been rolled-out in the EU+ area, as well as in many other regions and third countries.

On 17 March 2021, the Commission proposed two Regulations (4) to create Digital Green Certificates to facilitate safe free movement within the EU during the COVID-19 pandemic. Within the EU, the Digital Green Certificate will be a proof that a person has been vaccinated against COVID-19, received a negative test result or recovered from COVID-19. The Member States remain responsible for deciding which public health restrictions can be waived for travellers but should apply such waivers in a non-discriminatory way to travellers in possession of a Digital Green Certificate.

Scientific advice and empirical evidence on the effects of vaccination are becoming increasingly available and consistently conclusive on the fact that vaccination helps in breaking the transmission chain.

This evidence suggests that travel restrictions could be safely waived in certain cases for persons who can demonstrate having received the last recommended dose of a COVID-19 vaccine authorised in the EU pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 726/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council (5), and that such waivers could also be justified to the extent that a person has been vaccinated with a COVID-19 vaccine that has completed the WHO Emergency Use Listing process.

Children who in consideration of their age are excluded from COVID-19 vaccination should be able to travel with their vaccinated parents under condition of having tested negative to a PCR COVID-19 test taken at the earliest 72 hours before crossing the border of the EU+ area. In these cases, Member States could require additional testing after arrival.

However, few or no studies are yet available on whether variants of concern escape the immune response induced by the various COVID-19 vaccines. Therefore, in line with the precautionary approach, an ‘emergency brake’ mechanism should be established in order to allow Member States to adopt, in a coordinated way, urgent and time-limited measures to quickly react to the emergence of a variant in a given third country that has come under specific scrutiny, and in particular where it has been designated by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) as a variant of interest. This emergency brake should allow for appropriate measures, including limitations of entry, to be taken, with a view to preventing its import and spread in the EU+ area. Such measures should be subject to rapid coordination in the Council to allow...