The European Commission plans to revise the rules for entering the European Union .jpg” alt=”Netherlands lifts last travel restrictions due to COVID-19″ />
As of September 17th, the Netherlands has lifted the last of its COVID-related requirements for international travelers, lifting the entry ban it has maintained up to this point.
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“Given the current epidemiological situation in the Netherlands, the government considers that the travel ban is no longer proportionate to entry into the Netherlands,” the Dutch government said in a statement released last Friday.
Most of the country's travel restrictions were lifted at the end of February, after its capital, Amsterdam, emerged from its third lockdown in the pandemic era, but provisions set out under the travel ban have been maintained.
According to the country's previous policy, travelers arriving from outside the EU and the Schengen area (arriving from so-called “third countries”) were required to provide proof of full COVID-19 vaccination or a valid certificate of recovery in order to be allowed to enter the Netherlands.
Meanwhile, travelers from EU countries or the wider European Economic Area (EEA) have been able to enter the Netherlands unhindered for some time, regardless of their vaccination, recovery or testing status.
According to SchengenVisaNews, visitors' vaccination certificates previously also had to meet several criteria, including that the types of vaccines had to be among those approved by the European Medicines Agency or the World Health Organization and had to have been introduced within the last nine months.
With the announcement of the lifting of the latest entry restrictions to the Netherlands, the Dutch authorities also noted that the EU administrative body also plans to propose a revision of the rules for travelers entering its member states this autumn.
“The European Commission also plans to publish a proposal for a revision no rules for entry into the European Union (EU) in autumn 2022,” the statement said.