EU countries maintaining COVID restrictions in July

Europe and further, in the world, the majority of European Union/European Economic Area countries decided to lift their entry rules and allow restriction-free travel during the summer season.

All travellers, regardless of which country they are travelling from, can enter the above-listed countries even if they do not hold a vaccination, recovery, or test certificate.

• The list of the European Union/European Economic Area countries that have completely lifted their COVID19 entry restrictions and now permit restriction-free entry to all travellers is as follows:

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden and Switzerland.

• The list of EU/EEA countries that still require travellers to meet certain COVID entry rules includes France, Malta, the Netherlands, and Spain. Even though these countries have a stable COVID situation, they continue to keep entry rules in place.

France

The French authorities currently apply different entry rules depending on the country a person is travelling from. There are two different categories of countries of origin – the green and the orange category.

• The green list of France includes all the EU/EEA countries as well as tens of third countries. Travellers who reach France from a country that is part of the green list are not required to follow any additional rules as long as they provide a vaccination, recovery, or test certificate.
  Those who are unable to present one of these certificates need to undergo PCR or rapid antigen testing.
• Fully vaccinated and recovered travellers from countries that are part of France’s orange list are permitted restriction-free entry.

On the other hand, those who have not been vaccinated or recovered from the virus must present a negative test result as well as a compelling reason to justify the need to enter the territory of France.

Malta

The country still requires all incoming travellers to hold valid COVID-19 proof upon their arrival. All travellers, regardless of their country of origin, must present a COVID-19 certificate – a vaccination, recovery, or test certificate. In addition, the same noted that the certificate must meet the validity rules.

Travellers who present a vaccination, recovery, or test certificate are not required to follow any additional entry rules.

The requirement to present one of these passes does not apply to those under the age of 12. This means that children under 12 can enter Malta restriction-free, regardless of their vaccination or recovery status.

The Netherlands

The Netherlands keeps COVID-19 entry restrictions in place only for third-country travellers.

• Travellers from non-EU countries need to present a vaccination or recovery certificate to be permitted entry to the Netherlands. Travellers from non-EU countries who do not hold any of these two certificates are currently banned, meaning that they cannot enter the Netherlands.
• In contrast, travellers from the EU/EEA countries can enter the Netherlands restriction-free regardless of the vaccination status of their purpose of the trip.

Spain

Spain still requires nationals of non-EU countries to meet certain entry rules.

All third-country travellers must present a vaccination, recovery, or test certificate upon their arrival in Spain. Those who present one of these passes are permitted entry for all kinds of purposes.

However, it has been emphasised that travellers who do not hold an EU Digital COVID Certificate or an EU equivalent need to fill out the Health Control Form:

Who has to fill out the Health Control Form? Persons arriving from countries that are NOT members of the European Union or do NOT have the status of Schengen associated countries, who do not have an EU Digital COVID Certificate or EU Equivalent. Children under the age of 12 and passengers in international transit do not have to show a certificate or SpTH QR.

Spain applies the same validity rules on COVID passes. A vaccination certificate is accepted as long as it proves that the holder has completed primary vaccination in the last nine months or has received a booster shot.

A recovery certificate is accepted if it proves that the holder recovered from the virus in the last six months. As for the test, the authorities explain that they accept both PCR and rapid antigen tests. The PCR test must be taken within 72 hours before arrival in Spain, whereas the rapid antigen test must be taken within 24 hours before arrival in Spain.