European Union (E.U.) member countries today agreed to adopt Europe’s new ‘traffic light’ COVID-19 classification system for the purposes of cross-border travel. The proposal was approved during a meeting of the E.U. General Affairs Council, but the agreement is non-binding and much of the minutiae is being left up to the member states to determine, reported Independent.ie.
Under the new system, countries will be individually categorized as ‘green’, ‘orange’ or ‘red’ on the basis of their test positivity rates, calculated on a rolling, 14-day average number of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) will be tasked with publishing a weekly map reflecting member nations’ current color-coded status.
Green = 14-day cumulative case rate of less than 25 per 100,000 people and test positivity rates below four percent.
Orange = Either: 14-day case rate of less than 50 per 100,000 people with test positivity rates of four percent or higher—OR—a 14-day case rate of 25-to-50 cases per 100,000 with test positivity rates of less than four percent.
Red = Either: 14-day case rate of more than 50 per 100,000 people and with positive-test rates of four percent or more—OR—a 14-day case rate of more than 150 per 100,000 with positive-test rates of less than four percent.
In a corresponding statement, the European Commission said: “We have learned our lessons: we will not surmount the crisis by unilaterally closing borders, but by working together.” It continued, “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 E.U. and its regions.”
The Council stipulated that member countries should not restrict the free movement of E.U. citizens traveling to or from ‘green’ countries, but will allow them to individually determine what type of restrictions to impose upon travelers coming from ‘orange’ and ‘red’ regions.
“While Member States can still decide what restrictive measures they apply, such as quarantine or tests, we call on Member States to ensure that citizens are given clear and timely information about what they must do, and which restrictions are in force, as per the agreement today. Member States also agreed on the mutual recognition of tests, and we will continue to work with them on better coordination of testing and quarantine requirements.”
Critics are saying that the new system does little to solve the challenges posed by the patchwork of border restrictions currently in place in Europe. A joint statement issued by aviation bodies Airports Council International (ACI) Europe, Airlines for Europe (A4E) and International Air Transport Association (IATA) called the Council out on its “failure” to recommend coordinated testing regimens to replace quarantines. The statement said that this, “effectively means borders remain closed,” and continues to put millions of travel and tourism jobs in jeopardy.
“The inability of the Council to go beyond shallow coordination and establish a truly harmonized and workable framework is now beyond any doubt,” the shared statement said. The airline industry representative organizations also argued that the new traffic-light system offers travelers no more certainty than before, since member nations need only publish information on new restrictions 24 hours in advance.
While widespread calls for the adoption of coordinated COVID-19 rapid-testing requirements continue and the European Commission is reportedly working developing a shared E.U. travel testing protocol, there have been no new developments on that front.