European Union countries have agreed to take a “coordinated precautionary approach” in response to the Covid crisis in China and Beijing’s easing of international travel restrictions following the lifting of the country's stringent Zero-Covid policy in December.
The EU's decision—which is not legally binding—came from its integrated political crisis response (IPCR) group on Wednesday evening. It allows the bloc’s member states to maintain or introduce their own Covid testing and travel restrictions for passengers coming from China. Several EU countries, including France, Italy, and Spain, have re-instated or announced compulsory Covid-testing for passengers from China in recent weeks.
The IPCR agreed to “strongly encourage” member states to require all travelers coming from China, regardless of nationality, to have a negative Covid-19 test taken not more than 48 hours prior to departure from the country. It also “recommends” high-grade face masks on flights to and from China and the issuance of personal hygiene and health advice to travelers and aircraft and airport staff. Countries are “encouraged to complement these measures” with random testing of passengers arriving from China and sequencing of all positive results as well as testing and sequencing of wastewater from airports with flights and aircraft arriving from China. Belgium and Germany have already introduced the latter measure.
The EU-wide recommendation will apply from January 8. The member states agreed to assess the situation and review the introduced measures by mid-January.
The EU’s recommendations fall short of the measures reintroduced in other countries or regions, including Australia, the U.S., the UK, India, Japan, Malaysia, and South Korea.
The U.S. government requires proof of a negative Covid-19 test for all passengers ages 2 or older flying from China, Hong Kong, or Macau into the U.S., effective at 12:01 a.m. January 5. The requirement applies to all passengers—regardless of nationality or vaccination status—flying to the U.S. from China. It further covers passengers who transit from China through Incheon International Airport in Korea, Toronto Pearson International Airport, or Vancouver International Airport.
The UK requires all passengers arriving from China starting January 5 to show a negative Covid-19 test taken no more than two days before departure.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has criticized countries’ decisions to introduce Covid-19 testing and other measures for travelers from China. “It is extremely disappointing to see this knee-jerk reinstatement of measures that have proven ineffective over the last three years,” IATA director-general Willie Walsh said. Governments, he added, “should listen to the advice of experts, including the [World Health Organization], that advise against travel restrictions. We have the tools to manage Covid-19 without resorting to ineffective measures that cut off international connectivity, damage economies, and destroy jobs. Governments must base their decisions on ‘science facts’ rather than ‘science politics’.”
Separately, ACI Europe—the Brussels-based trade body of European airports—expressed regret about the actions of states within the EU and globally that have unilaterally imposed health-related travel requirements, including systematic pre-departure or on-arrival testing of travelers from China. “We are once again plunging back into a patchwork of unjustified and uncoordinated travel restrictions, which have no basis in scientific fact,” said ACI Europe director general Olivier Jankovec. “Clearly, we still have to learn the painful lessons of the past years. These travel restrictions do not work.”