Farewell to European rule chaos?

EU wants to simplify entry regulations

Created: 01/25/2022, 17:14

By: Franziska Kaindl

The digital COVID certificate should soon be sufficient for travel in the EU.

© Thomas Trutschel/Imago

If you want to travel within Europe, you have to comply with the entry rules of the individual countries.

However, the EU now wants to make the regulations easier.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, vacationers within Europe have had to keep themselves regularly up to date on the entry rules of the individual countries.

The states often decide on the basis of the infection rate in the country of departure whether travelers are subject to stricter measures.

The

is indeed widely accepted as proof of vaccination, recovery or testing - but which of the three references in what situation is really sufficient, the states have regulated the self.

For example, Germany divides it into high-risk and virus variant areas* and then decides which entry rules should apply to those affected.

Austria, on the other hand, now requires proof of vaccination or recovery with an additional PCR test or booster.

Unvaccinated people generally have to be quarantined.

For vacationers, the measures can hardly be overlooked.

In order to put an end to the rule chaos, the EU states decided on Tuesday (January 25) that in future

.

Facilitation for travelers: EU Covid certificate should be sufficient in the future

From February 1st, there

.

This means that it should no longer be the country of departure that is decisive, but the presence of a valid vaccination, test or proof of recovery.

In addition to the vaccines approved in the EU, the funds accepted by the WHO or national authorities should then also be sufficient.

The EU Covid certificate should be valid for 270 days for the first vaccination series.

A PCR test may be made no more than 72 hours before the trip and a rapid antigen test 24 hours before.

A convalescent certificate should be valid for 180 days – unlike the 90 days recently recommended by the RKI.

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Anyone who does not have a digital Covid certificate should take a test after arriving in the destination country.

Exceptions apply to children.

No further restrictions are planned.

EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides and EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders said: "Today, Member States reconfirmed that possession of a valid EU COVID digital certificate should in principle be sufficient to be able to travel during the pandemic.

With this agreement, the EU COVID digital certificate becomes the core of our coordinated approach.

It is important that Member States follow up the agreement and implement

.”

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It goes on to say: “Each Member State makes its decisions on the basis of its particular circumstances.

But the omicron variant has now spread across Europe and it is time

.” With the agreement, the EU countries are following a proposal made by the EU Commission two months ago.