Coronavirus, limited travel to Europe in “dark red” areas. But the borders remain open – Corriere.it

Covid-19 variants “are of great concern” to the EUsays the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, explaining that a new mapping is needed and zones are planned “dark red” for areas where the epidemiological situation is worse and for which quarantine and tests will be requested, but the States will decide. While the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, at the end of the video conference between the EU leaders called to promote a coordinated approach to Covid, indicates the points of agreement: open internal borders “for the benefit of the single market” “Restrictions for non-essential travel”; the need, also highlighted several times by the Commission, to guarantee genomic sequencing of positive tests in Covid, for the monitoring of variants.

However, it is too early to agree on the vaccination certificate as a travel document proposed by Greece and endorsed by Spain and Malta. The doubts of many remain, with France, Germany and the Netherlands in the lead. But EU leaders are in favor of a document for medical purposes. Healthcare is an exclusive national competence, so coordination between EU governments is not easy.

Yesterday, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (Ecdc) raised the alert level in its latest report, in which it “assesses the probability of introduction and spread in the EU and the European Economic Area of ​​variants of Sars- CoV-2 of concern “. That is why “recommends avoiding non-essential trips.” And it invites States to “prepare for a rapid increase in rigor in response measures in the coming weeks to safeguard health capacity and accelerate vaccination campaigns.” Meanwhile, after a debate that started in December, EU states finally unanimously approved a recommendation – non-binding – strongly supported by Berlin, which establishes a common framework for mutual recognition of Covid test results across the the EU and on the use of rapid antigen tests. The aim is to continue to allow cross-border travel to enable the single market to function.

At the end of the videoconference, von der Leyen reiterated that the EU “is a unique epidemiological zone” and therefore “specific measures” are necessary because the closure of the borders “would seriously endanger our economy without stopping the virus.” The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, had come in the morning to contemplate the hypothesis of border controls but only as a “last resort”, in the case of neighboring countries that do not adopt adequate measures to contain the virus and open to “agreements on production and also on the use “of the Russian vaccine Sputnik V” if it is approved by the EMA “(Hungary has already given the green light). EU leaders agree on the need to speed up vaccinations and they support the Commission’s proposal to cover 70% of the population before the summer, but companies must respect delivery times in accordance with their commitments. President Michel recalled that “vaccines must be distributed at the same time and pro rata, depending on the population.”