June 4, 2021: -The coordination of travel rules in the European Union has become a politicized process. As a result, the rules remain “unpredictable,” the CEO of Wizz Air said as the airline experiences “huge” demand for the summer.

Consumers of Europe are keen to get flying again and spend more time away from this summer. However, there are concerns those constant changes to quarantine policies and the need to take Covid tests before and after the holiday might put the travelers off.

In addition, recently, France and Germany put restrictions on non-essential travel from the U.K., where a transmissible variant of the coronavirus first discovered in India has spread. However, some believe the move could have been somewhat politically motivated following anger over the supply of Covid vaccines.

Váradi said that restrictions on U.K. travelers were an example of how traveling rules became politicized and noted that “if you look at the U.K., for example, the country is very well vaccinated, better than the European so you should travel within the European Union.”

“The European regulatory framework is remaining very volatile and unpredictable, and I think this is the problem,” Váradi also said.

Members of the European Union have discussed how to reopen their economies to tourists this summer jointly. However, how and when this is done are decisions taken at the national level, and it can differ from what has been suggested by European institutions ultimately.  Nonetheless, the 27 EU nations make traveling easier both within the EU and outside the bloc.

Vaccinated tourists outside the EU will be allowed to travel into one of the 27 EU nations this summer, provided they have received the latest recommended dose for a minimum of 14 days before their arrival in the EU. After that, however, they might be subject to quarantines upon arrival, which depends on the rules of their destination and the epidemiological situation in their origin of country.

Similarly, European citizens can also fly to other EU nations either by showing proof of vaccination or a negative test. In addition, EU citizens now have the chance to combine this information in a digital covid certificate.

On Monday, “Europeans should enjoy a safe and relaxing summer. As vaccination progresses, we propose to ease travel measures gradually in a coordinated way with our common tool, the EU Digital COVID Certificate,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.

However, quarantines will apply too, but the EU’s idea is to release this requirement to boost intra-EU travel.

The European travel and leisure sector traded marginally lower on Wednesday morning, with Wizz Air down about 0.6%.