EU Marks One Year of External Border Closure – an Overview of the Year Left Behind
What started out as a 30-day long border closure on all arrivals from outside the European Union and Schengen Area Member States turned out to be a period of one year, with no end of it anywhere in sight.
Back at the very end of winter last year, amid increasing COVID-19 cases not only in Europe but also further in the world, the European Union was found in a situation like none before since its creation.
With a swift reintroduction of border controls by the majority of the Schengen Area Member States and other measures imposed throughout the block, the Commission had to come quickly with a proposal that would prevent the further spread of the virus within its territory and call on the unity of the Member Countries amid the epidemic, that would soon be announced a pandemic.
On March 17, 2020, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, and the President of the EU Council Charles Michel, in a joint press conference announced that the main EU bodies have decided to close the EU the external borders of the territory, for at least a period of 30 days.
The plan, which had previously been approved by all EU countries, intended the closure of the external Schengen Area and EU border for an initial period of 30 days, which at the time was the most extreme measure taken by the block to halt the further spread of the COVID-19.
At first, the travel ban affected all non-EU nationals visiting the bloc, except long-term residents, family members of EU nationals and diplomats, cross-border and healthcare workers, and people transporting goods.
Later, the Member States adjusted the ban according to their needs while at the same time imposing different restrictions on arrivals from outside, as quarantine and testing for COVID-19.
Emanuel Macron – “the Pioneer Demander” of Border Closure
From the very first days of the COVID-19 outbreak in Europe, the French President Emmanuel Macron has been the number one person demanding the closure of external borders and common approach of the Member Stated in the fight against the virus, AtoZSerwisPlus.pl reports.
As the number of detected Coronavirus cases worldwide surpassed 170 thousand on March 16, 2020, France was at the time listed as the seventh country with the most detected cases, with 5,423 people in France infected with COVID-19, 127 among whom died.
Alarmed by the situation, President Macron had urged the EU and Schengen Members to tighten border controls in order to curb the further spreading of the virus, after firstly banning gatherings within the country and ordering the closure of all non-essential services.
Following his call, Macron was the first to confirm that the EU external borders would close in a televised address to the French national.
The EU Commission followed, announcing the measure soon enough, and by the end of March, all EU external borders were sealed off, except for the UK, which was transitioning from an EU to a non-EU country.
EU Official Warns of Proof of Testing & Vaccine Requirements for Travel
On April 14, AtoZSerwisPlus.pl reported that soon, those wishing to travel throughout the Schengen Area would have to present a negative COVID-19 test.
The information was provided by an EU official who also said that once the COVID-19 vaccine is confirmed and available, Schengen visa applicants may also be required to be vaccinated in the future, in particular, if the virus remains active.
“When the Schengen Borders open up… Schengen Visa applicants may need to submit a Coronavirus test that has resulted negative, taken within the last two weeks prior to the visa application. The traveler may be required to take a new test before traveling to the Schengen area, as to make sure that he/she has not been infected in the meantime,” the source said.
Soon enough, the Member States started asking fellow EU citizens for proof of COVID-19 negative test results in order for them to be able to travel within the territory of that particular EU country.
Later on, by the end of April, Tourism Ministers of the 27 European Union Member States met through a video conference, in which meeting they discussed the option of creating a certificate of security in the sphere of tourism named “COVID-19 passport”.
The document would refer to the health status of its owner and enable him/her to travel to the EU and the Schengen countries.
By the beginning of the new year, COVID-19 vaccine passports have been one of the hottest topics within the EU, with many countries already issuing such documents.
Unsuccessful Attempts to Revive Safe Summer Travel
Once the EU Member States became aware that the virus would be present for quite a longer time than thought at first, their governments started undertaking actions in order to enable safe tourism, as little as possible.
While the EC President Ursula von der Leyen said at the end of April that plans for summer holidays in Europe could be feasible if people stick to social distancing, it soon turned out such a thing was hardly possible.
The idea of von der Leyen had been turned down by the French Minister of Interior Christophe Castaner, who said the act would be premature while the number of infections in the world was on the rise.
The EU Council even established a list of epidemiologically safe third countries in a bid to enable non-essential trips to the EU and throughout the Schengen Area. The list, which was first published on June 30, consisted of 15 third-countries, where the number of COVID-19 cases was low in comparison with the rest of the world and even the EU itself.
While at first, it was supposed that the number of countries in this list would grow, in fact, with each update, the council dropped more countries from the list, adding very few new ones.
The list was updated exactly seven times, and the last time it was updated on January 28, it consisted of a total of seven third countries.
However, other countries, the economy of which widely depends on tourism, attempted to take the matter into their own hands, like Spain, the authorities of which launched two plans/campaigns named the Operation Summer and the Safe Tourism Plan, after AtoZSerwisPlus.pl had reported that the same could lose more than €40 billion due to absence of tourists.
Tourism Industry in the Verge of Collapse With Billions Lost Across the Continent
While the EU Member States have not yet reported their exact economic losses due to the closure of external borders and the halt of tourism in their territory, the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has evaluated the losses that a few countries were expected to suffer by the end of 2020.
A magnet for tourists, Italy has been one of the countries most affected by the pandemic, not only due to the high number of infections but also economically. A report of WTTC asserted that international spending in Italy could drop by 82 percent by the end of last year, meaning the economy of the country could have suffered a shortfall of €100 million per day or €700 million a week on average.
The absence of international tourists in France, on the other hand, could have caused a decrease in international spending by 82 percent, which is equal to €131.2 million a day, or €918 million a week.
The evaluation showed that the situation in Germany was no better, as the latter was set to lose €38 billion by the end of 2020.
Figures published by the WTTC raised concerns that due to the halt of travel and tourism, about 197 million jobs in the field could be lost.
Vaccination Certificates: Travel and Tourism Industry’s Pis Aller
With more COVID-19 vaccines getting approved and more people being vaccinated throughout the EU Member States and the Schengen Area Associate countries, the urge to restore travel for those vaccinated has also increased.
The so-called ‘vaccination passports’ or ‘vaccination certificates’ have gained huge attention in recent weeks, after several of the Member States warned they would start issuing them to their citizens, so those who are vaccinated against COVID-19 have proof of it.
Even the EU Commission has unfolded Commission’s plans to create a digital green pass for those who are COVID-19 free in a bid to restore travel for business and tourism purposes, which in essence will be similar to vaccine certificates already launched by several EU countries.
EU Commission’s plans to launch a COVID-19 certificate scheme for those vaccinated against COVID-19 comes after many EU countries have either started doing so or revealed similar plans, Denmark, Cyprus, Czechia, Greece, Estonia, Iceland, Italy, Portugal, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Spain, and Sweden.