The EU Commission is making an attempt to ensure that travel within the Union area should be made possible in a uniform manner. The patchwork quilt should end on February 1, 2022 – at least at first glance.

An agreement was reached among the members of the European Union that the EU Corona certificate will be relevant for travel in the future and not where you come from. Vaccination, test and recovery certificates should be recognised. According to the announced plans, these should be put on an equal footing, so that traveling within the EU could be simplified for the unvaccinated.

However, the matter has a big catch: there have always been attempts to create uniform travel rules, but it sometimes only took a few hours until the first country gave up and went back to its own soup. For example, with the introduction of the "Green Passport" it was intended that vaccinated, recovered or tested would be entitled to enter the country. In the summer, Malta was the first EU country to switch to 1G.

Taking into account the course of the travel rules to date, which have clearly shown that agreements have always been reached, but which were not worth the paper they were written on because they quickly went it alone again, the developments after February 1, 2022 should definitely be in the to be kept in mind.

EU Commission "hopes" for compliance by members

It is currently planned that from 1 February 2022 all vaccines approved by the EMA, WHO or national authorities will have to be recognised. PCR results should be valid for 72 hours after the swab is taken and rapid antigen tests for around 24 hours. Recovery certificates should be valid for 180 days. There comes the next "catch", because Germany shortened the "best before date" of recovery to 90 days just a few days ago. If the Federal Republic does not give up, the odd thing could happen that you can enter the country for 180 days with the certificate, but can no longer do anything with it domestically after 90 days.

The agreement of the EU members also provides that people who do not have a certificate can catch up on a test immediately after arrival, for example at the airport. Unless there are special national regulations, the costs for this must be borne by yourself. There should be exceptions for children.

However, the statement by a spokesman for the EU Commission should also make you think: "The least we can all expect is that the member states also implement this recommendation." If you want it that way, you can also interpret it that you Brussels doesn't really believe that all EU members will stick to the agreement.

In Austria it is Wolfgang Mückstein's turn

Austria's Europe Minister Karoline Edtstadler (ÖVP) emphasized that coordination at European level is necessary. At the same time, she emphasized that Austria will not orient itself downwards, but will "maintain the high standards such as test capacities". In this context, she also sees the Alpine republic as a role model for other EU members.

The entry and quarantine regulations in Austria are currently comparatively strict. Only those who have been vaccinated three times can avoid testing and quarantine. Those who have recovered and those who have been vaccinated twice also need a negative PCR test, which can also be done in Austria. In this case, the pre-travel clearance must be filled out. Unvaccinated people must be quarantined for ten days, but can test themselves after five days. These must also fill out the PTC. It is still unclear how things will continue in view of the agreement at EU level. Health Minister Wolfgang Mückstein (Greens) is now on the ball. The current entry regulation was only recently extended until the end of February 2022.

This date is not significant as the ordinance has been amended many times since the start of the pandemic and there have been regular changes over the past few months. The general validity was extended again and again. It therefore remains to be seen whether Austria will join the agreement at EU level or continue to cook its own soup. Mückstein is the decision-maker.