Francesco Guarascio and Philip Blenkinsop

BRUSSELS (Reuters). -The European Union has widened its focus on rules for travel to reduce the spread of Omicron virus. After Portugal and Ireland, Italy and Greece announced further restrictions on travelers from EU member states.

For weeks the EU’s 27 members have discussed how to coordinate travel policy. This goal is to control the virus while not disrupting the flow of people within Europe’s Schengen.

Italy stated on Tuesday however that all EU citizens will have to submit to a negative screening on their arrival. A five-day quarantine will apply to those who are not vaccinated.

The rules, which will take effect Thursday, would restore border checks at Italy’s borders. They echo the measures taken by EU countries during the pandemic. This caused huge queues at the border and caused shortages in food and medicine around the bloc.

“I’ve only seen that closing the borders is in no case the solution,” Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel said to reporters upon his arrival at a summit in Brussels.

Summit conclusions state that any restriction should be coordinated, on the basis of objective criteria and shouldn’t “disproportionately hinder free movement between Member States”.

Krisjanis Karins, Latvia’s Prime Minister, stated that freedom to travel within the EU should not be ended.

CERTIFICATE

A diplomat from the EU was clearer: “Adding vaccine tests to certificates means undermining COVID-19’s value.”

In July, the EU issued its COVID-19 certification. The COVID-19 certificate allows holders to freely travel across EU borders provided they are current on their vaccinations, have undergone a recovery or had a negative test.

The European Commission presented a revision to COVID passes on November 25th that allows proof of vaccination to be used for travel across Europe for up nine months following completion of primary vaccination.

The member states have not yet approved the proposal.

Portugal added a requirement that additional negative testing be performed on the same day as the Commission’s proposal. Ireland followed suit a few days later.

The same measures were announced by Greece on Wednesday and will take effect Dec. 19. The Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitchells stated that it will only be in effect for Christmas, and was designed to slow down Omicron’s spread.

The preliminary data suggest that Omicron vaccines may not be as effective, however boosters can increase protection.

According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, Omicron proved more common and was likely to be the predominant variant in Europe during the first two months 2022.

But, the report did not suggest travel restrictions as it stated that this variant was present in most EU countries and is often transmitted locally.

Officials said that the Commission suggested last week that members require a negative testing only for those arriving from the EU. Some states are opposed to this measure which is still being discussed.

It could be approved and allow the EU to lift a travel ban that had been in effect since November when the Omicron variant was found there. Officials say it will open the door for countries from southern Africa to resume their normal activities, although many governments remain cautious.

Although the expiration of COVID-19 after nine months seems less controversial, several states requested that Omicron be studied further.

To discuss this matter, a meeting of EU diplomats has been scheduled for December 21.