The General Affairs Council (CAG) of the European Union, made up of the ministers of European Affairs of the EU States, has adopted in its session today, held in Luxembourg, the recommendation on the EU coordinated approach to restriction of free movement in response to the pandemic. Spain has been represented in the CAG by the Secretary of State for the European Union, Juan González-Barba. With this recommendation, Europe seeks greater coordination while preserving the principle of mobility between Member States. After confinement, it is the first effective recommendation to standardize information criteria.
For the Secretary of State of Global Spain, competent in mobility issues, Manuel Muniz, “This Recommendation includes important aspects that Spain has been defending since in mid-August free movement in the European Union began to erode. It is a success of our Economic Diplomacy since it establishes minimum standards in terms of mobility, but leaves the door open for States to implement more lax border measures if their epidemiological situation allows it. This Recommendation offers us guarantees and certainties to navigate the uncertainties of the second wave of COVID, protects the mobility of groups vital to our economy, and gives us enough room for maneuver to establish more ambitious bilateral agreements with European partners. This means that we will be able to continue working, this time under the framework of a Recommendation adopted by the Council of the European Union, in the establishment of tourist corridors with the territories that require them ”.
For the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Reyes Maroto, “This agreement is a first step to reactivate international tourism activity because it includes proportionate and predictable measures that allow improving the confidence of travelers. Likewise, it positively values the preference for conducting tests at origin and / or destination as a preferred measure over quarantines ”. Maroto He recalled that Spain has shown in all the debates a greater ambition in defending the free mobility of travelers as a general principle in the EU that allows Europe to once again be a safe travel destination. "We will continue working to achieve this general rule that allows in conditions of sanitary security to recover international tourist flows, a key element to reactivate our tourism sector."
The Recommendation, adopted by the Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper), despite being a fundamentally indicative and minimum text, seeks to establish standardized criteria and data that: guarantee a safe and non-discriminatory free movement within the European Union , strengthen coordination mechanisms and improve information to citizens. Until now, each Member State had established restrictions on citizens from other countries according to its own criteria and guidelines, often different from each other. With the new Recommendation, the evaluation criteria are standardized and the risk of discrimination between European citizens is eliminated.
Spain welcomes this Recommendation as it reflects our position on fundamental elements: the exclusion of border closures as a measure to be adopted, the protection of the mobility of groups of particular sensitivity and relevance, such as travelers in an essential function (health workers, transporters, patients in transit to receive medical treatment, passengers in transit, students who must travel to attend classes on a recurring basis, diplomats, military personnel and police or journalists in the exercise of their functions, among other groups) and the regionalization of the evaluation and implementation of measurements. Furthermore, a specific mention is made of the peripheral and ultra-peripheral territories, such as the islands, for which Spain has defended a singular treatment.
Likewise, the Recommendation includes an express mention of the preference for conducting tests at origin and / or destination compared to quarantines -or self-isolation- and also invites States to continue cooperating in the mutual recognition of results and in the passenger location forms (opening the possibility of a European form).
Defense of free movement and a first step to reactivate international tourism activity
With this recommendation, Europe seeks greater coordination while preserving the principle of mobility between Member States. It establishes minimum mobility bases on which member states can build looser criteria depending on their health circumstances.
The text establishes the role of the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) in collecting information and making maps to give transparency to the entire process. On a weekly basis, the ECDC will make a weekly provision of data for the consideration of the essential criteria (incidence rates, tests and positivity) and complementary (population, hospitalization rate, ICU admissions rate and mortality rate). Information that this organization will distribute in three separate maps for the three indicators defined as essential: cumulative incidence rate at the regional level and rates of PCR tests and positivity at the national level, to which a combined map will be prepared that will use the code of traffic light colors.
The Recommendation approved in Luxembourg also establishes the need to inform the public and operators in advance, following – whenever possible – the general rule of 24 hours in advance and relying on the use of the Re-open EU website. In the case of the adoption of national measures, the Member States concerned must be informed as a matter of priority.