Brussels urges to keep borders open despite outbreaks

A group of people, next to the Eiffel Tower, in Paris, this Friday.MOHAMMED BADRA / EFE

"We will have a summer tourist season", proclaimed the Commissioner for the Economy, Paolo Gentiloni, in an interview with this newspaper three months ago. Time has proved him half right. Travelers move across the continent, but by mid-August, cross-quarantines are at their peak. And to the annoyance of Brussels, in favor of reserving restrictions for very exceptional cases, they grow as new outbreaks are detected here and there.

Friday was a black day for free mobility: in just 24 hours Germany recommended not to travel to Spain as it was considered a "risk zone". The UK imposed a two-week quarantine on travelers from France. And Paris responded by doing the same with those who enter their country from the British Isles. This Saturday, the Netherlands recommended not to travel to six Spanish provinces (Madrid, Balearic Islands, Burgos, Salamanca, Almería and Navarra). Similar cases have been reproduced in other parts of the continent. And Brussels fears it will revive the border chaos of the early stages of the pandemic.

Spurred on by the collapse of the economy, the Commission pressed capitals to reopen borders in the Schengen area since June 15. The majority listened to him, and the rest would not take long to do so - Spain and Portugal opened their border on July 1 celebrating an act of great symbolism - but in the face of the growing uncertainties that emerge now, in the star month of the season of summer, the community executive has not wanted to wait for the situation to deteriorate even more to act. On August 7, he sent a letter to national governments calling on them to keep their borders open and act in coordination. Just the opposite of what they did in March.

"We must ensure that the EU is ready for outbreaks, but at the same time avoid a second wave of uncoordinated actions on internal borders," says the four-page letter, advanced by the Associated Press, to which this has had access. diary. “The reestablishment of ineffective restrictions and border controls must be avoided. The response must be proportionate, coordinated, and based on scientific evidence ”, adds the text, sent to the ambassadors of the Twenty-seven and the United Kingdom by the general director of Justice, Salla Saastamoinen, and her counterpart for the Interior, Monique Pariat.

The Community Executive believes that only very demanding criteria can justify travel restrictions. "They should be imposed in exceptional circumstances, when it is clear from available information that such measures are necessary in view of an identifiable risk to public health." It also insists that in no case should they be announced unilaterally, without first notifying the country concerned. And it warns against the temptation to put an entire country in the same bag: in cases where the sources of contagion are limited to one or more regions, it is committed to "not limiting free movement to and from other parts of that Member State" .

The document shows that Brussels perceives that some countries overstate some statistics and undervalue others. And that they are going too fast when it comes to hindering travel. "This decision should not be based only on the cases per inhabitant of the last 14 days of a territory, but on the number of tests that it performs and the rate of positivity, given that the more tests it does, the more cases it will detect," he warns.

The historic drop in EU GDP, of 11.7% in the second quarter, makes Brussels fear that a new round of border closures will hamper the recovery and once again hamper free movement in the Schengen area, which has been hit hard in recent years. times, not only because of the pandemic, but also because of restrictions related to terrorism or immigration.

The national boundaries have not been sealed so far, but the long lines at French airports due to the influx of British tourists trying to rush back to their country to avoid quarantine is a warning of how quickly they can return. confusion and collapses in the main transport arteries.

Brussels describes the health situation in the letter as "volatile", with cases increasing in some partners and decreasing in others. And although she is aware that states have the last word on quarantines and border management, she reminds them that Europe has a lot at stake. "Given the experience of the onset of the pandemic, we would like to underline that coordination remains critical to ensure clarity and predictability for citizens and businesses, especially in the travel industry."

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