Will I be able to pass through an EU airport after 1 January?

Q I’m a Brit living in a non-EU country. If Brits become barred from entering the EU from 1 January due to Covid rules, will I still be able to transit an EU airport if I’m returning to the UK?

Adrian S

A There is something strangely heroic in the way that pro-Brexit newspapers are continuing their misinformation campaign against the European Union to the death. One current story warns: “British tourists could be banned from visiting EU countries after January 1 under strict coronavirus travel rules.”

With headlines like that, I am not surprised you are concerned about your travel plans. Fortunately for you, the assertion is wrong in two key respects: the “strict coronavirus travel rules” are neither strict nor rules. They are recommendations from the European Commission to member states, which – as sovereign nations – are making their own decisions.

Since the summer, the commission has recommended that travel between EU countries and hangers-on should be permitted – with any conditions that the receiving chooses to make in terms of testing and quarantine.

At present the UK is one of those hangers-on, along with EEA and non-EU Schengen countries: Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and plucky Liechtenstein. But when the transition phase ends on 31 December 2020, the UK becomes a “third country” along with the rest of the world – with a general presumption against travel into the EU. While Europe has a list of recommended exceptions for low-risk countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea and Thailand, the UK’s coronavirus rates are higher and there is no imminent chance of it being included.

While some EU nations (and hangers-on) will impose the commission’s recommendations to the letter, others will not – notably those with a large number of British visitors. And finally to answer your question: in terms of changing planes, I foresee no problem whatever the UK’s status. The key European hubs of Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Madrid and Paris CDG, and dozens of other airports, are allowing airside transit from one EU country to another. But the UK’s quarantine rules apply based on setting foot in a country, even if you do not go through passport control and simply wait a couple of hours between flights.

Q On Sunday you wrote about new rules for owners taking pets across the Irish Sea, saying they will need an “animal health certificate” confirming a rabies jab for journeys from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. I am not sure this is correct. The government makes it clear online: “There will be no significant changes to pet movements between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. They should continue in a very similar way to as they do now.”

Andy S

A Unfortunately for owners of dogs, cats and ferrets, the government is currently putting out incorrect information online. Anyone who follows the current advice to “Check/Change/Go” and reads that statement will be given false reassurance. I have asked the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to correct the assertion or at least replace it with a holding statement.

The reality is this: from 1 January 2021, when the transition phase ends, there will be a regulatory “border in the Irish Sea” between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It will apply to a range of issues – including people who normally take their pets between the two without any problem.

Travellers from the mainland will need to get an “animal health certificate” in advance of every visit to the European Union and Northern Ireland. It will show their pet has been vaccinated against rabies. In addition, pet dogs will have to be treated against an especially unpleasant tapeworm, Echinococcus multilocularis. The certificate must be issued within 10 days of your planned journey. You will be able to travel from Northern Ireland to the Republic and onward to another EU country (but not travelling there via the UK).

The European Commission rules for British pets going to the EU – which because of the withdrawal agreement signed by the UK government must apply to Northern Ireland – were published on Friday. When I first contacted Defra on Saturday I was told: “Further guidance on pet travel will be published shortly.” I was also told: “It is vitally important that all pet owners planning to travel know that the rules are changing after the transition period.”

It is concerning that the government has not yet told pet owners making journeys within the UK how the rules will change – and continues to publish misleading information.

Q I am confused. As you reported on Thursday, the Canary Islands are back on the quarantine list. But while the Foreign Office travel advice mentions this, it does not warn against travel. My travel company says I can’t have a refund on our trip to Tenerife next week because there’s no official warning. What’s going on?

Jane D

A I don’t blame you for being confused, and thinking: either a location is dangerous for British people, or it isn’t, surely? And for the past few months, there has been a lock-step between the locations from which the Department for Transport (DfT) requires quarantine, and the Foreign Office (FCDO) list of destinations that it insists are too dangerous for us to visit.

The Foreign Office explains the room for difference thus: “FCDO travel advice sets out risks you may face, including non-Covid risks, if you are able to travel abroad. The travel corridors list considers overall risk to public health of inbound travel from a particular country.”

No wiser? Well, let me try to help. The two lists are doing subtly different things. The DfT, in consultation with the Joint Biosecurity Centre, is assessing places from which it believes returning British travellers present a threat to the wider population. But the Foreign Office is assessing the risk to you as an individual of contracting coronavirus in each location. (I’m not sure I’m even convincing myself about the difference, but that is the official line.)

I believe that what lies behind this is a political row in which the Foreign Office is finally trying to rescue some semblance of respectability for its now-maligned travel advice.

While Dominic Cummings was running Downing Street, he instructed the FCDO to mirror the DfT list of “dangerous” places. Since the DfT list was deeply flawed – for many months refusing to acknowledge that many countries in Africa have a far lower rate of coronavirus than the UK – it made the Foreign Office advice look embarrassingly bad.

Now that Mr Cummings has left, the FCDO is emboldened and has the commendable aim of aligning its warnings with reality. This would return its travel advice to the way it used to be: providing valuable assessments of actual risks, so that travellers can make informed d ecisions.

Unfortunately for you and many thousands of other holidaymakers, this otherwise commendable decision means that you face mandatory quarantine (as prescribed by one government department) but no chance to get a refund as the Canaries are regarded as safe enough (by another government department).

Sorry for this unholy mess.

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