During an epidemic such as the coronavirus pandemic, an EU country may prohibit pleasure travel to a destination abroad with a high risk of infection. That is what the European Court of Justice has ruled. A Member State may also require travellers to be tested or to undergo quarantine. The highest European court notes that the rules must be really necessary, clear, fair and well-founded. After the outbreak of the coronavirus, the Netherlands and other EU member states banned unnecessary travel to so-called ‘red’ areas. Anyone who travelled to the Netherlands from such a virus hotspot had to undergo a corona test and be quarantined. The issue was raised in court by an aggrieved Belgian travel agency that demanded damages. That is why the European Court of Justice had to determine whether such drastic measures are permitted. According to the Court in Luxembourg, measures are therefore permissible, even if they do not affect the agreement of free border movement between the European Schengen countries. (Photo Shutterstock).
