Malta has only wanted to allow travelers who are fully vaccinated against corona from today, but the country has dropped its plan at the last minute. Instead, tourists and business travelers who have not been vaccinated must be quarantined.
How long is not entirely clear; a period of 14 days has so far been applied to travelers from countries with color code red.
“We will be the first EU country to do this, but we have to protect our society,” Health Minister Fearne said last week. Malta would have been the first EU country to impose a vaccination as a hard requirement for admission.
The intention came to the island, where the number of infections has risen sharply recently, to be criticized by the European Commission and EU Member States. The measure would undermine the European travel certificate. That certificate shows whether someone has been vaccinated, has recovered from corona or has recently tested negative.
In Malta, an island south of Sicily, about 80 percent of the population is fully vaccinated, a percentage higher than anywhere else in the world. The number of corona infections has risen spectacularly, partly due to travelers.
Measure must be proportionate
Hanneke van Eijken, assistant professor of European Law at Utrecht University, said in the radio program last night: With a view to tomorrow that free travel is a fundamental right for EU citizens. You may only limit this right on the grounds of public order or safety or public health. “That last category was never used before corona, that was never necessary.”
Van Eijken said that Malta in itself is not obliged to accept the European corona certificate. She wondered whether a vaccination obligation for travelers was proportionate. If Malta had persisted, the European Commission could have gone to the European Court of Justice. “The committee could then have argued that the measure goes further than is strictly necessary.” Van Eijken pointed to alternatives such as a quarantine obligation, which has now been introduced.
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