The EU has “strongly encouraged” member states to impose pre-departure COVID testing on passengers from China in a move which will likely anger Beijing.
The global airline industry has criticised the “knee-jerk” reinstatement of measures by some EU countries, saying they have “proven ineffective over the past three years”.
It comes after the EU stopped short of agreeing all 27 member states must impose pre-departure testing on visitors from China following a week of talks.
However, members including Italy, France and Spain have already implemented the measure at a national level.
Outside of the EU, people arriving in England from mainland China have to provide a negative COVID test before flying.
The US had previously announced similar rules.
China had earlier warned of “countermeasures” if such policies were to be imposed across the European Union.
Earlier on Wednesday, EU Commission spokesman Tim McPhie had said that the “overwhelming majority of countries are in favour” of imposing testing of passengers from China prior to departure.
But the EU apparently could not find agreement to bind them all.
The EU presidency said in a statement that the member states “agreed on a coordinated precautionary approach” but fell short of full agreement.
In the most crucial part of the statement, it said that “member states are strongly encouraged to introduce, for all passengers departing from China to member states, the requirement for a negative COVID-19 test”.
On other issues, the EU said there was full agreement to have passengers wear masks when travelling to and from China and to offer advice on personal hygiene and health issues.
The Chinese government and European health experts have said there is no pressing need for any blanket restrictions on travel, since the coronavirus variants emerging from China are already prevalent in Europe.
On Wednesday the International Air Transport Association, which represents some 300 airlines worldwide, lent its powerful voice to the protests.
“It is extremely disappointing to see this knee-jerk reinstatement of measures that have proven ineffective over the last three years,” said director general Willie Walsh.
“Research undertaken around the arrival of the Omicron variant concluded that putting barriers in the way of travel made no difference to the peak spread of infections. At most, restrictions delayed that peak by a few days,” Mr Walsh said.
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However, World Health Organisation head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday he understood why numerous countries have recently taken measures against travellers coming from China, given the lack of outbreak data from the Chinese government.
The EU also said its approach was partly based on the need for “sufficient, reliable data” from China.
The bloc said it will reassess the situation by the middle of the month, one week after China’s easing of travel restrictions on its citizens becomes official on 8 January.
A day after threatening countermeasures, Chinese government spokesperson Mao Ning said on Wednesday that “we sincerely hope that all parties will focus on fighting the epidemic itself, avoid the politicisation of COVID”.
Still, the EU sought to take some sort of joint action to ensure incoming passengers from China do not transmit any potential new variants to the continent.
Fearful of being caught unawares like at the outset of the global pandemic in early 2020, the EU Integrated Political Crisis Response group wanted quick action, and ended up with encouragement on several issues instead of imposing measures.
