Tourism MEPs Need Uniform Journey Measures for Summer season, Together with a Frequent Vaccination Certificates

Members of the Parliament of the European Union would like the bloc to introduce uniform travel measures for the summer, among other things, by issuing a joint vaccination certificate specifically designed for travel.

In a meeting on February 25, the EU Parliament’s Transport and Tourism Committee voted on a draft resolution to define an EU strategy for sustainable tourism.

The draft resolution, which was adopted with 47 votes in favor and only two against, urges EU Member States to include the tourism and travel sectors in their recovery plans while recommending the temporary reduction in VAT for companies in these sectors

In an opinion on the resolution, EP rapporteur Cláudia Monteiro de Aguiar said that the committee wanted the EU to avoid past mistakes before summer by introducing uniform travel measures such as an EU pre-departure test protocol, vaccination certificate and a European seal

“Tourism is one of the sectors hardest hit by this pandemic. It needs to be properly included in the Member States’ recovery plans and a mechanism that clearly shows whether it benefits from EU support, ”said rapporteur de Aguiar.

The draft resolution provides for an EU health security protocol for pre-departure tests and states, among other things, that the quarantine requirement should only be used as a last resort.

It insists that a common EU vaccination certificate could be used as an alternative to PCR testing and quarantine requirements “once there is sufficient evidence that people who have been vaccinated do not transmit the virus”.

MEPs also want the EU Commission to introduce an EU Hygiene Certification Seal to certify minimum standards for the prevention and control of COVID-19 viruses and that this could help restore consumer confidence in the tourism and travel sector .

“MEPs also welcome the reopening of the EU portal and urge EU countries to provide the Commission with clear information on the application or lifting of future restrictions on free movement,” said a committee press release on the draft resolution .

In order for the resolution to be adopted, the whole House of Parliament must now vote in favor of it by the March 2nd sitting.

The so-called “vaccination passports” or “vaccination certificates” have attracted a lot of attention in recent months after several Member States warned against preparing such documents and granting them to their citizens who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

The idea of ​​such documents was first brought to the EU by the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. who wrote a letter asking the EU institutions to work on reintroducing a coronavirus vaccination certificate to make traveling between the block easier.

Since then, the idea has won the support of many, including the President of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. Many other countries have already created such documents or work on it with Denmark, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Cyprus, Estonia, Portugal, Italy, Iceland, Slovakia, Poland, Spain and Sweden among them.

Back on April 14th in an article entitled “COVID-19 test results and subsequent vaccinations may be required to apply for a Schengen visaSchengenVisaInfo.com had warned that once a vaccine is approved and available, vaccination documents would become the norm for travelers within the EU.