Until March 3rd – German border controls to Tyrol extended

From there, only Germans and foreigners with a residence and residence permit in Germany are currently allowed to enter.  The re are exceptions for truck drivers and cross-border commuters with systemically relevant professions. You must have a negative corona test that is not older than 48 hours.  The  rules were initially introduced for ten days.

 The  federal police control compliance with the stricter entry regulations at these border sections “flexibly in terms of location and time with a clear focus on international or supraregional traffic connections in order to ensure the most complete control of cross-border traffic”, said the federal police headquarters in Potsdam.  The  number of people who are turned away at the borders has decreased, according to the information in the past few days, “because the travelers are increasingly behaving in accordance with the rules due to the controls.”

Several of the requirements are disproportionate or unfounded, according to a letter of complaint from the EU Commission to the German EU ambassador Michael Clauss in Brussels. “We believe that Germany’s understandable goal – the protection of public health in a pandemic – could be achieved through less restrictive measures,” the commission continued.  The  EU Commission now expects a response to the letter within ten working days. In theory, it could initiate legal proceedings against Germany, but this is unlikely due to the ongoing pandemic.

What has been done is in line with the Schengen Agreement, however, EU State Minister Michael Roth rejected the EU Commission’s allegations on Tuesday on the sidelines of a video conference with EU colleagues. One adheres to EU law, so Roth.

European Minister Karoline Edtstadler (ÖVP) had previously stated that the situation in the dispute with Germany over the stricter entry regulations for Tyrol had “relaxed”. During her visit to Berlin last week, she made it clear that the measures against the coronavirus pandemic in Austria are “working very well”. “I think that goes down with everyone”, emphasized Edtstadler.

At today’s meeting, “everything will come on the table” – the range of measures by individual Member States, which are a challenge, for example for the movement of goods and commuters, “but also everything that brings us towards normalcy”, such as the vaccine certificate, explained Edtstadler further. Concerning the vaccination certificate, she said there was “less and less resistance” and “more and more understanding” among the EU countries.

In their meeting today, the European Ministers are preparing for the EU summit of heads of state and government on Thursday and Friday. At the urging of the EU Commission, they advise on how to proceed at internal borders.