The entry regulations currently in force in Austria are initially limited to June 30, 2021. It is still completely unclear what the provisions will look like from July 1, 2021, because the Green Ministry of Health and the ÖVP-led ministries do not seem to agree. In an interview with Austrian Broadcasting Corporation, “Chief Medical Officer” Katharina Reich indicated that compulsory testing - also for vaccinated people - was being considered.

At the same time, they want to make access to PCR tests easier and more accessible, based on the Vienna model. The ministry official indicated that the project could gradually be rolled out across Austria. The main reason she stated was that the so-called delta variant could only be found with the help of sequencing in PCR tests.

Reich said that when entering or re-entering Austria, travelers should have the option of being subjected to a PCR test. But then it became more specific: If you come from so-called “risk areas”, then, according to your ideas, a mandatory PCR test should be made mandatory. This should also explicitly apply to fully vaccinated people. She went on to say that people who have been vaccinated may still need regular testing in areas such as hospitals and retirement homes.

The hint of the "Chief Medical Officer" could lead to Austria not recognizing rapid antigen tests for entry into "risk areas". That would be a major annoyance for passengers, because in many countries PCR tests are difficult or expensive to access. The criteria according to which Austria declares areas to be “risk areas” are not transparent. It is true that one claims that one would orientate oneself on the ECDC card, but one does not take it exactly with the classifications of the European authority.

Apparently there was a disagreement in the government

If the Ministry of Health is able to prevail, the abolition of the mask requirement announced by Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP) would not come. Both Minister Wolfgang Mückstein (Greens) and “Chief Medical Officer” Katharina Reich see this critically and emphasize that it would be too early to make a decision. Reich told the ORF that this would be the “only effective means of protection”.

It is therefore inevitable that there may still be some discussions between the Minister of Health, the Federal Chancellor and the ÖVP-led ministries. The Ministry of Tourism in particular is pushing for the entry requirements to be made as simple as possible. If there is a kind of “general compulsory test for vaccinated people”, the Ministry of Health could finally lead the Green Passport to the point of absurdity. In recent weeks, however, it has repeatedly been shown that Wolfgang Mückstein's positions were difficult or even impossible to assert with Sebastian Kurz and the ÖVP ministers.

What is awkward, however, is that only a few days before the start of the summer holidays, the entry regulations that will apply from July 1, 2021 have not yet been finalized. In recent months, travelers have also been made difficult by the fact that the ordinance was published in the Federal Law Gazette no more than two days before it came into force.