Free Movement within the EU due to the Digital COVID Certificate
As from February 01, 2022, new rules for travel apply within the EU. From then on, the digital COVID certificate, presenting either a certified vaccination or recovery status or a certified negative test result, authorizes passengers to travel to another EU country for business or vacation. Consequently, travelers within the EU can once again enjoy free mobility as the pandemic situation and the incidence rates in the respective country of entry or exit are no longer the determining factor.
With this new recommendation, the EU member states are following the EU Commission’s proposal presented in December 2021. Accordingly, there shall be exceptions only for countries classified as high-risk areas. Recently tightened travel restrictions as well as further constraints set up by individual member states, such as an additional testing obligation for vaccinated and recovered people or an entry ban for unvaccinated people, are about to be lifted again.
According to the new recommendation, vaccinated, recovered, and negatively tested people who are in possession of the digital COVID certificate (as integrated into the CovPass or Corona-Warn-App in Germany) are allowed to travel freely within the EU. However, the following new regulations must be observed:
- For fully vaccinated and recovered people, there shall be no further testing or quarantine obligations in the country of entry. Vaccination certificates are valid for 9 months after having received the second dose. Proof of recovery must not be older than six months.
- For non-vaccinated people, a test prior to departure is still required. Both, a PCR test (not older than 3 days) and a rapid antigen test (not older than 24 hours) are accepted. When traveling from or to a high-risk area, an additional quarantine is still obligatory in the country of arrival.
- For children under the age of 12, certain exceptions continue to apply.
In addition to the vaccines approved by the EU, Chinese vaccines will also be accepted, as well as other vaccines approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) or the member states’ national authorities.
BARIG Secretary General Michael Hoppe states: “This is good news for the travel and air traffic industry. Individual restrictions and tightened constraints have made travel enormously difficult in recent months. The modification and implementation of uniform measures and entry requirements within Europe are essential to ensure stable travel procedures and free mobility. We therefore hope that the EU member states will also comply with the new recommendation effectively. In this way, travel can be facilitated again, first within the EU and then, in a next step, on a global level as well.”
