Compulsory test or not for European travelers? Omicron divides the Union

“Vaccinated people will not have to carry out tests to travel between member countries of the European Union”, assured Emmanuel Macron in a tweet (see below). If France now requires a “compelling reason” for any trip to or from Great Britain, and if several other non-European countries have reintroduced restrictions at their borders, the French president is protesting against the decision of certain countries to the Union to require a test in addition to the health pass, which Europe had acquired this summer.

Faced with a fifth epidemic wave which has still not reached its peak, and threatens to saturate the hospital services of several members of the European Union, and worried about the lightning spread of the Omicron variant, several countries have chosen to toughen their conditions entry. Thus Italy from this Thursday, and Greece from December 19, will now require negative tests to enter their territory, including for European travelers with the health pass – therefore presenting a complete vaccination schedule, or recovered from the Covid -19. Ireland and Portugal have also just opted for similar measures. It is this choice that makes Emmanuel Macron react, who believes that “in the face of virus variants, we must continue to act like Europeans”.

On Thursday, the European aviation sector also reacted against these restrictions put in place by several EU countries, judged “ineffective”, and “unnecessary”. The organizations ACI Europe and Airlines for Europe, which respectively federate the airports and airlines of the Old Continent, refer in particular to the European Center for the Prevention and Control of Diseases (ECDC), which according to them, “recognizes that it is unnecessary to include” in the new measures against the Omicron variant, “travel restrictions”. For these organizations, as for Emmanuel Macron, they contradict even “the reason of being” of the European health certificate launched last summer, the purpose of which is precisely to allow free travel between EU countries.

At a summit this Thursday in Brussels, European leaders tried to coordinate their response to the “tidal wave” of the Omicron variant on the continent, by agreeing mainly on the need for the extension of vaccination to all and a recall campaign. On the other hand, the general wish expressed by the Twenty-Seven at the end of their meeting, that the restrictions decided by each State “do not disproportionately interfere with freedom of movement”, are apparently not enough to remove the specter of a new territorial fragmentation of the Union.