EU foreign ministers have agreed to implement the European Commission’s new ‘traffic light’ system aimed at coordinating travel restrictions across member states.

The commission says the system will provide more clarity and predictability, though individual countries can still decide whether they want to apply measures such as tests or quarantine.

As a first step, the European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC) will produce a map with common colour codes based on common criteria.

Regions will be shown as ‘green', ‘orange', ‘red' and ‘grey' (if not enough information is available).

Criteria

EU members have agreed that there will be no restrictions, such as quarantine or testing, on travellers coming from ‘green' regions – though there are few that would fall under this category at the moment.

When travelling from ‘orange' or ‘red' regions, travellers can expect restrictive measures to be imposed, according to the commission.

The criteria for each category are as follows:

• Green, if the 14-day case rate is less than 25 per 100,000 people and the test positivity rate is less than 4%,
• Orange, if the 14-day rate is less than 50 per 100,000 people but the test positivity rate is 4% or more, or, if the 14-day rate ranges from 25 to 150 but the test positivity rate is less than 4%;
• Red, if the 14-day rate is 50 or more per 100,000 people and the test positivity rate is 4% or more, or, if the 14-day rate is more than 150.

“We now call on member states to ensure that the necessary data is provided so that the map can be updated on a weekly basis with accurate information on the epidemiological situation in the EU and its regions,” the commission said.

Tests recognition

It also urged countries to ensure that citizens were given clear and timely information about what they must do, and which restrictions are in force.

EU ministers also agreed on the mutual recognition of tests, and the commission is to work with member states on better coordination of testing and quarantine requirements.

All information about travelling in the EU will be available on the Re-open EU platform.