At the General Affairs Council, European ministers will today take stock of the status of coordination at a European level regarding travel within the Community area, with new recommendations on EU borders being expected, according to the meeting's agenda.

At a time of high resurgence in cases of infection with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which does not translate to high rates of hospitalisation or death, experts predict that most Europeans will gain natural immunity due to contagion or protection due to vaccines, so countries are starting to lift additional levies for vaccinated travellers from the EU, such as testing negative or quarantining on arrival in the country.

This is what will be on the table at the meeting of ministers of General Affairs, according to a source from the French presidency of the EU Council, who told Lusa that a review of the recommendation on measures for internal borders will be discussed, “taking into account the advances in vaccination and the expansion of the Omicron variant”.

The objective is, therefore, “to move from an approach based on the epidemiological situation in each region to an individual approach based on the vaccination status of each traveller”, said the same source.

At today's meeting, Portugal will be represented by the Secretary of State for European Affairs, Ana Paula Zacarias.