During the first months of the year, at the beginning of the corona pandemic, ski resorts in northern Italy and Austria were singled out as particularly large hotspots.
About 6,000 people are believed to have been infected in the town of Ischgl during the spring and from there passed the infection on to 45 countries.
Now that the infection is reaching new record levels in Europe, several countries want to prevent the ski resorts from playing the role of super-spreader again.
On Thursday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel informed the country's parliament that the government has begun work to bring about a joint solution together with other EU countries, writes the BBC.
"Takes the infection with you"
Italy is one of the countries that has been in favor of a common solution.
The country's Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has already called on the country's residents to refrain from skiing during Christmas and New Year.
He has also threatened to close the border with neighboring Austria to limit the number of skiers crossing the border into Italy.
Giuseppe Conte has also raised the issue of an EU-wide regulatory framework to prevent skiers from spreading the infection between countries.
"If Italy were to close down its ski resorts without support from France, Austria and other countries, there is a risk that Italian tourists will travel abroad and take the infection home again," the prime minister said earlier this week, according to the BBC.
Want compensation
However, the Austrian government, which has been sued by a private consumer law group for its handling of the major corona outbreak in Ischgl, has been critical of common rules for EU ski resorts.
According to Gernot Blümel, the country's finance minister, a demand for closure would come with a demand for compensation.
- They will have to pay for it, he commented on the matter according to the BBC.