Thirteen
European business travel buyers' associations have issued a joint call for a Europe-wide approach
to enable companies to quickly resume business travel. The associations have called for business travellers to be able to avoid quarantine if they are vaccinated or have tested negative and for the implementation of standardised
digital health certificates.
The
declaration is signed by Austria’s ABTA, Belgium’s BATM, Denmark’s DBTA, Finland’s
FBTA, France’s AFTM, Italy’s AITMM, the Netherlands’ NATM and Cortas, Norway’s NBTA,
Spain’s aegve, Switzerland’s ASTM, Sweden’s SBTA, and Germany’s VDR.
The declaration reads: “Business trips domestically, across
Europe and globally, as well as trade fairs and congresses, are foundations for
current and future wealth creation. Our member companies send their engineers
out into the world to build plants, commission sales staff to complete new
orders globally, and send scientists to institutes and to conferences to
facilitate scientific exchange, just to mention a few examples.”
The
associations have made three demands:
• The
implementation of digital health certificates. With the EU Digital Green Certificate as a
standard, domestic health certificates in many European countries, CommonPass
and/or IATA TravelPass, there are plenty of initiatives for digital health certificates.
Interoperability between various digital health certificates in Europe and
globally is essential. The group calls for the introduction of such digital
certificates as soon as possible, to allow business travellers to move again
without restrictions in Europe, and possibly even globally.
• No
quarantine for healthy travellers when crossing borders. Business travellers should be
allowed to cross borders free of quarantine if they have either recovered from
Covid-19, are vaccinated, or can present an up-to-date negative PCR test.
• Re-open
Europe coherently. Restarting business travel in Europe is not only a matter for the European Union
or EFTA. All European countries, of course including Norway, Switzerland and
the United Kingdom, should act in an aligned manner to open their borders for
much needed business travel.
VDR
managing director Hans-Ingo Biehl said: “We are sending a strong signal of
unity with the aim of making concrete proposals to political decision-makers
across national borders on how business trips can be carried out safely and
efficiently again in the future.
“The
measures taken by state institutions will be one of the decisive factors in
determining whether the economic recovery can also succeed in business travel
activities. Travellers and companies need travel facilitation, reliable
information, clear guidelines and less bureaucracy in order to be able to
combine efficient travel organisation, corporate welfare obligations and
applicable regulations.”