EU Parliament's Largest Party Proposes Asking Airline Passengers About Travel History

The European Parliament’s largest faction said harmonising the approach of all EU nations was key to stopping virus spillovers from China, where it has infected almost 45,000 and killed over 1,000. EPP member Antonio Tajani told reporters at a press briefing in Strasbourg that the party had sent the proposal to Health and Food Safety Commissioner Stella Kyriakides.

"[EPP faction leader] Manfred Weber, Esther de Lange and me sent the letter to Stella Kyriakides with our proposal for a questionnaire to be distributed during flights and be filled by all travellers", Tajani said, as aired by the EU Audiovisual Service.

Passengers will have to report whether they have been in contact with people from the outbreak epicentre in Hubei province or had flu-like symptoms in the last 30 days. Filling in false information will be penalised.

"We need a common approach to people coming from outside the EU, who have visited China in the last month. There is no European-wide mechanism in place", Weber said at the same press conference.

EU health ministers will gather in Brussels on Thursday to coordinate a common response to the outbreak for the first time since China reported it to the World Health Organisation in late December.