The European Commission recommended on Tuesday (22.12.2020) that travel bans imposed by European Union (EU) countries on Great Britain to contain a new variant of the coronavirus should end to allow the Resumption of cargo transport and essential travel, as well as allowing people to return home.
The recommendation, which will be presented to EU ambassadors on Tuesday evening, advises discourage non-essential travel to and from Britain. However, people heading to their country of residence should be able to do so, provided they undergo a COVID-19 test or quarantine for 10 days, the Commission said.
"General travel bans should not prevent thousands of EU and UK citizens from returning home," European Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders said in a statement. release.
The recommendations are designed to establish common rules within the EU. and ambassadors will consider adopting them today. However, border controls are governed by national policy, so each EU country can have its own rules.
Essential travellers such as medical staff should be tested before departure but should not be quarantined, the EU executive recommended.
Transport staff within the EU, including truck drivers, should be exempt from any travel ban and testing and quarantine requirements. If an EU country requires rapid antigen tests for transport workers coming from Britain, this should not lead to transport disruption, the Commission said.
From January 1, with the end of the Brexit transition period, only essential travel would be permitted from Britain unless Britain was added to an EU list of “safe countries”, which currently consists of just eight countries.
This restriction would not apply to UK citizens who are resident in the EU or to EU citizens residing in Great Britain.
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