“The German RKI rules”

For the second Easter in the Corona Lockdown, the promised EU-wide coordination of travel warnings has not worked. “The German RKI rules” – even in France, Spain and the Netherlands.

It was a German initiative: with the help of the EU agency ECDC, the travel warnings due to Corona were to be better coordinated. They even introduced a new category of “green zones” where travel should not be a problem.

But Germany, of all countries, is not complying. Before Easter, Mallorca was declared a risk-free area – yet the island is still not marked “green” on the ECDC map. Even Spaniards are not allowed to travel there.

During the holidays, Berlin surprisingly declared the Netherlands a high-risk area – although the EU experts of ECDC show two differently contaminated zones in Holland. This, too, was a German solo effort – like so many before.
“Everyone is trembling before the RKI”.

But most people might not even notice this. Those who only follow the German media might think that Berlin alone decides on risk areas and travel warnings. In fact, the RKI and the Foreign Office regularly disregard EU recommendations.

“We are EUropa”, they seem to think in Berlin. Nobody seems to consider that this leads to massive problems in the border countries. Poland, the Czech Republic, France and the Netherlands have de facto been declared “no go” zones – and this in the middle of the Easter holidays.

“All of Germany’s neighbours are trembling before the RKI’s announcements – but one can doubt whether Berlin’s view of its neighbours is well-founded. It can also be seen as a testimony to a lack of confidence”

French MEP Christophe Arend

We are also witnessing a German go-it-alone approach to the vaccination card – or the “digital green certificate”, as it is called in EU jargon. The Federal Minister of Health, Spahn, rather freely declares that those who have been vaccinated twice will soon be allowed to move freely again.

Yet the vaccination certificate is still awaiting its introduction – not only in Germany, but also in most EU countries. And what rights it will bring with it has not yet been decided – neither in Berlin nor in Brussels.

Belgium has already spoken out against special rights for vaccinated people. And rightly so! Because once they start, the “vaccination passport” could quickly become a passport – with unforeseeable consequences for freedom of travel in EUropa!

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version) The original post (in German) is here