Travel and transportation during the coronavirus pandemic

On 13 May, the European Commission presented guidelines and recommendations to help Member States gradually lift travel restrictions, with all the necessary safety and precautionary means in place. Measures intended to enable citizens to travel again after months of confinement include, but are not limited to:

Safely restoring freedom of movement and lifting internal border controls

If a generalised lifting of restrictions is not justified by the health situation, the Commission proposes a phased and coordinated approach that starts by lifting restrictions between areas or Member States with sufficiently similar epidemiological situations. The approach must also be flexible, including the possibility to reintroduce certain measures if the epidemiological situation requires. Member States should act on the basis of the following criteria: epidemiological situation, ability to apply containment measures throughout the journey, and economic and social considerations.

Restoring transport services across the EU

The guidelines represent general principles for the safe and gradual restoration of passenger transportation by air, rail, road and waterways. They also contain practical recommendations on, for example, limiting contacts between passengers and transport workers, and the passengers themselves, and on the use of personal protective equipment while travelling. Dedicated recommendations are given for each mode of transport.

Safely resuming tourism services

The Commission set out a common framework which provides criteria for a safe and gradual restoration of tourism activities and the development of health protocols for hotels and other forms of accommodation, to protect the health of both guests and employees. These criteria include epidemiological evidence; sufficient health system capacity being in place for local people and tourists; robust surveillance and monitoring, testing capacity and contact tracing.

Ensuring cross-border interoperability of tracing apps

On 13 May, the EU Member States, supported by the Commission, agreed on a protocol to ensure cross-border interoperability of voluntary contact tracing apps, so that citizens can be warned of a potential infection with coronavirus when they travel in the EU.

Making vouchers more attractive for customers

Under EU rules, travellers have the right to choose between vouchers or cash reimbursement for cancelled transport tickets (plane, train, bus/coach and ferries) or package travel. While reaffirming this right, the Commission recommendation aims to ensure that vouchers become a viable and more attractive alternative to reimbursement for cancelled trips in the context of the current pandemic, which has also put heavy financial strains on travel operators.
More info: European Comission official website