EU: COVID-19, agreement on measures restricting movement. Commission, “it is necessary to work together”

The 27 EU ministers have reached an agreement that will provide “more clarity and predictability” on measures that restrict free movement due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Commission “welcomes the adoption” of the proposal “by the Council”, saying: “Our right to move freely across the EU has been severely impacted by the pandemic. On top of this, citizens have been faced with so many different rules and procedures, unclear information about areas of high and low risk, and a lack of clarity about what to do when travelling. A month ago, the Commission put forward a proposal on how to address these challenges and support the millions of EU citizens who travel in the EU every day. Today, Member States have reached an agreement on how to put this into practice”. The Commission chaired by Ursula von der Leyen points out: “We welcome this agreement to bring more order to a currently confusing situation. The coming together of Member States sends a strong signal to citizens and is a clear example of the EU acting where it absolutely should. We have learned our lessons: we will not surmount the crisis by unilaterally closing borders, but by working together”. The first important outcome is “a common map with common colour codes based on common criteria, produced by the European Centre for Disease Control. We now call on Member States to ensure that the necessary data is provided so that the map can be updated on a weekly basis with accurate information on the epidemiological situation in the EU and its regions”.
Valentina Bombelli