The Telegraph reports the proposals, which are due to be approved by the council on Tuesday (22 February), will allow fully vaccinated travellers to enter the bloc without proof of having tested negative for Covid-19.
Visitors from all non-EU countries, including the UK, will be covered. Children aged six to 18 who have not been fully vaccinated will be allowed to enter on the basis of a negative pre-departure PCR test.
The new rules will come into effect from 1 March and are expected to apply to all travellers who have been double or triple-jabbed within 270 days of their arrival, The Telegraph further reports, adding the European Commission is "optimistic" most EU and European Economic Area countries will implement the recommendation.
In effect, the changes would align the EU’s internal travel protocols with those for people arriving from outside the bloc. PC Agency chief Paul Charles told The Telegraph a one-size-fits-all policy "made absolute sense".
Approval on Tuesday would follow further details from the UK government of how it proposes to simplify its Covid-era travel rules, as set out by prime minister Boris Johnson and transport secretary Grant Shapps on Monday (21 February).
Johnson confirmed reports the UK’s passenger locator form would be reviewed by Easter, although he stopped short of supporting Shapps’s call for the form to be scrapped. He also said the NHS Covid Pass would remain available to international travellers for them to use to prove their Covid status.
Shapps, meanwhile, said there would be no more knee-jerk reactions to new threats posed by Covid-19, such as new variants, except in extreme circumstances. He said the government would seek to take a proportional approach to any risks, and would have a new toolkit of measures to draw on.
