England: Paris judges quarantine "discriminatory" for arrivals from France

Maintaining a quarantine in England for travelers arriving from France is "incomprehensible" and "discriminatory", said the French Secretary of State for European Affairs on Thursday.

"It is excessive and incomprehensible on a health plan (...) It is not scientifically founded", declared Clément Beaune on the LCI channel.

"It is a discriminatory decision towards the French since all Europeans, even countries which have more difficult health situations than ours under the Delta variant or other are no longer concerned by this quarantine", he said. -he adds.

"Better negotiate with the Americans"

Travelers fully vaccinated against Covid-19 in the European Union and the United States will be exempt from quarantine in England as of Monday, with the exception of arrivals from France. London excluded France "in the name of the Beta variant, the famous South African variant, which represents less than 5% of cases in France" and which mainly concerns overseas territories such as Reunion Island little subject to flows of travelers to the United Kingdom, lamented Clément Beaune.

The French Secretary of State also regretted that the borders of the United States remain closed to travelers from the EU while American tourists are once again admitted to Europe.

"At the European level, we should have kept the advantage of this reciprocity in our sleeve in order to negotiate better with the Americans. Europe as a whole should have conducted negotiations, perhaps a little harder," he said. .

Still no entry into the United States for travelers from the Schengen area

While EU countries have decided to reopen their own borders to Americans, provided they are vaccinated against Covid-19 or test negative, travelers from the Schengen area, the UK and Ireland can no longer enter the United States since March 2020.