The EU Wants To End Restrictions For Some Travellers & Here's What It Means For Canadians​
The E.U. Council now recommends scrapping ALL restrictions for eligible travellers.👇🇨🇦
Travelling to Europe from Canada could be about to get easier, thanks to a series of recommended changes to the European Union's travel rules.
On Tuesday, February 23, the European Council recommended that EU nations lift all testing and quarantine requirements for eligible fully vaccinated travellers from other countries, starting as early as next month.
Per the recommendation, individuals who've received the full series of a COVID-19 vaccine (which has been authorized in the EU or approved by the World Health Organization) should be able to skip testing requirements and quarantine, provided their most recent vaccination was within the previous 270 days.
Additionally, those who've received a booster dose and those who've recently recovered from COVID-19 (within 180 days of travel) would be eligible to avoid restrictions.
The recommendation also says that children under the age of six should not face COVID-19 testing or other requirements to travel.
It change would mean that fully vaxxed travellers from Canada will be able to visit countries inside the 27-nation bloc without taking multiple COVID-19 tests and facing strict measures like quarantine.
With Canada's own travel measures also easing up for fully vaccinated travellers returning home, it means taking trips to places like Spain, Italy, Germany, France and so many more could become much simpler (and cheaper!).
"The updates will further facilitate travel from outside the EU into the EU, and take into account the evolution of the pandemic, the increasing vaccination uptake worldwide and the administration of booster doses," the European Commission said, per CTV News.
The start date for the new guidance is March 1, according to USA Today.
It's also worth remembering that EU recommendations are non-binding, which means each member state is able to decide their own rules and choose their own travel measures. That said, when the council made similar recommendations last year, many countries followed the advice.