The European Union Council has adopted a proposal of the EU Commission on updating the recommendation on entry restrictions for travellers from third countries to the EU and the Schengen Area, by tightening these measures.

The proposal of the Commission has been supported by the EU Council due to the increasing number of Coronavirus cases in Europe and further in the world, as well as amid the spread of the new COVID-19 mutations.

According to the updated recommendation, the Member States are advised to tighten the criteria to lift restrictions for travellers from non-EU areas, while also tightening entry measures for those eligible to enter the EU and Schengen Area from other countries.

As a result, the Council recommends to the Member States to lift restrictions for non-essential purposes for the residents of third-countries where the number of new cases per last 14 days is no more than 25 per 100,000 inhabitants.

At the same time, these countries must meet the rest of the criteria in order for their residents to be able to travel to the EU/Schengen Area for non-essential purposes, including tourism, as follows:

• either a stable or decreasing trend of new cases
• more than 300 tests per 100 000 inhabitants in the previous seven days
• not more than 4 per cent positive tests carried out in the previous seven days
• no increasing cases of virus mutations detected

“Where the epidemiological situation worsens quickly and, in particular, where a high incidence of variants of concern of the virus is detected, travel restrictions for non-essential travel may be rapidly reintroduced,” the Council points out through a press release published in its official website,

“In the same circumstances, member states may also limit temporarily the categories of essential travellers. Travel justified by compelling reasons should still remain possible,” the Council notes, adding that reciprocity should continue to be taken into account on a case-by-case basis.

As per the measures that should be introduced for arrivals from third countries, eligible to enter the Schengen Area, Ireland, Romania, Cyprus, Croatia and Bulgaria, the Council advises the Member States to impose the requirement of a negative PCR test taken at the earliest 72 hours before departure.

All other measures as self-isolation, quarantine and contact tracing for a period of up to two weeks, as well as further COVID-19 testing as needed during the same period are advised, if the Member States see these measures as necessary to keep the spread of the virus in their territory under control.

“Quarantine and additional testing upon or after arrival should be imposed in particular to those travellers arriving from a third country where a variant of concern of the virus has been detected,” the new recommendation notes.

It also highlights that transport and frontier workers should be exempt from all these entry restrictions when travelling as a part of their job.  A negative rapid antigen tests before departure may be required for transport personnel coming from a country where a high incidence of variants of concern is detected.

The updated recommendation comes after on January 25, 2021, the EU Commission urged for additional measures for arrivals from outside the EU, to make sure travelling does not increase the risk of COVID-19 spread in the EU.

On February 1, the Council has also adopted the amendments to the recommendation on the coordinated approach to the restrictions of free movement in response to the Coronavirus pandemic, as suggested on January 25 by the EU Commission.