Three years after the start of his crisis coronaviruswho disrupted the life of the whole world and led it European Union vows to improve cooperation when next health crisis arrives, a new political tug-of-war of the same origin emerged.

China’s decision to lift its zero-tolerance policy has led to a huge increase in the number of cases and caused worldwide concern. OuchBut the EU’s first joint response efforts failed as Italy announced its border controls for those arriving from China.

And while the Union currently moving towards a coordinated approach to dealing with arrivals from Chinaincluding pre-flight checks, in-flight masks, and waste screening for new mutations, with new talks scheduled for Wednesday. already one country after another is making unilateral precautionary announcements for travelers from China.

“It disappoints me, despite three years of the pandemic, that there is still no single, coordinated European response,” said Marion Koopmans, head of the virology department at the Erasmus University Medical Center in the Netherlands.

So why did European unity collapse at the first barrier? Politico asked questions and tried to provide answers.

What measures are applied to arrivals from China?

Most countries have already announced some form of control, with Italy testing travelers arriving from China and isolating those who test positive. Spain is testing and measuring temperatures and is requiring COVID certificates from Tuesday, while France is requiring negative tests before travel from China, masks on planes and PCR tests on arrival for all passengers.