The European Council has officially recommended to all its Member States that restrictions on non-essential travel into the bloc be eased from March 1.
The Council calls on all members of the EU to rescind both testing and quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated travellers, as well as travellers who have recovered from COVID-19 within the 180 days before travel.
“The amendments introduced respond to the evolution of the pandemic, the increasing vaccination uptake and administration of booster doses, and the recognition of a growing number of certificates issued by third countries as equivalent to the EU digital Covid certificate,” a statement from the Council reads.
Travellers must have received the last dose of the primary vaccination series (one dose for Johnson & Johnson, two doses for other vaccines) between 14 and 270 days prior to arrival to be recognised as fully vaccinated. Older vaccinations require a booster to allow the traveller to be recognised as fully vaccinated again.
The recommendation includes that children aged 6-18 should be permitted to travel if they are fully vaccinated or recovered, or if they present a negative PCR test result no more than 72 hours old.