Starting from February 1, travel within the EU may become easier after member states agreed to new non-binding travel rules.
The European Union recommended on Tuesday that people who are fully vaccinated or have recovered from the coronavirus be allowed to travel among the union’s 27 member states without testing or quarantine requirements.
Travelers that are fully vaccinated, if no more than 270 days have passed since the last dose, or who have had a booster shot, would qualify under the new rules.
A negative PCR test received at the latest 72 hours before travel or a negative rapid antigen test no more than 24 hours prior to departure would also be allowed, as well as having proof of recovery from COVID within 180 days.
Clément Beaune, the Secretary of State for European Affairs of France, said that the idea is to focus on people, rather than where they are coming from.
Under the new recommendation, individual countries could still impose additional requirements for incoming visitors.
The bloc recommended tighter restrictions for people who are not vaccinated or have not recently recovered from the virus, and who are coming from areas the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control considers to have high circulation of the virus. Such people would be allowed to travel if they could show a recent negative test result, but would have to quarantine and undergo additional testing.
