European Council to discuss COVID-19 recovery strategies

The European Council will meet in Brussels today to discuss the EU’s COVID-19 recovery strategies and pertinent foreign relations.

In terms of the pandemic, the Council is prescribing more nuanced recommendations after advocating the “lifting of free movement restrictions” last month. Due to the emergence of resurgent, localized infection waves, the Council has recently implemented a new EU travel criteria that addresses new risks. As such, a Traffic Light System was implemented, restricting travel to and from areas that are determined to be “Dark red” zones following guidance by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

Furthermore, due to the successes of mass vaccination campaigns and the provision of vaccine passports, the Council has recommended Member States refrain from imposing testing and quarantine requirements for vaccinated individuals. As such, expect easier and more numerous travel between the 17 member states that participate in the EU Digital COVID vaccine certificate scheme.

Expect the Council to re-affirm restrictions on non-essential travel to prevent resurgent pan-European COVID-19 outbreaks, while at the same time push for more member states to participate in vaccine passport schemes. Furthermore, expect EU tourism to slowly recover coinciding with steady rises in vaccination rates and international recognition of vaccine passports.