The European Union has approved a traffic light system for travel within the bloc in an attempt to provide clarity for travellers.
The EU has adopted blanket ‘common criteria’ for the new system.
Under the agreement, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) will publish a weekly map of the regional situation in EU countries, with a traffic light colour code based on the risk level.
The traffic light colour of a given region will depend on the number of new cases per 100,000 inhabitants over the last 14 days and the rate of positive tests.
A fourth colour, grey, is provided for areas where there are insufficient data or where the number of tests carried out per 100,000 inhabitants is considered too low.
This means that travellers coming from a ‘green’ zone will not be subject to any restrictions of special measures, while those coming from an orange, red or grey zone may be required to undergo quarantine and/or screening on arrival.
The EU has also reminded member states that they should not refuse entry to their territory to travellers coming from another EU country after Hungary decided to only allow Czech, Polish and Slovak citizens to enter.
In a statement the European Commission said: “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.”
It added that it wanted member states to now provide the necessary up-to-date data so the traffic light system can be updated monthly.
The new Traffic Light System will work as follows:
- Red: High risk, more than 50 cases per 100,000 people with 4% test positivity, or more than 150 cases per 100,000 with less than 4% test positivity
- Orange: Medium risk, more than 25 cases per 100,000 people with 4% test positivity, or between 25 and 150 cases per 100,000 with less than 4% test positivity
- Green: Low risk, less than 25 cases per 100,000 people with less than 4% test positivity
