Coronavirus: MEPs angry over cacophony of restrictions
Members of the European Parliament in Brussels, September 15, 2020. REUTERS / Yves Herman
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3 min
In a debate in the European Parliament this Tuesday afternoon, September 15, MEPs denounced the cacophony in the travel of Europeans following the restrictive measures put in place by the Member States to deal with the resurgence of the Covid epidemic- 19.
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With our correspondent in Brussels
,
Joana Hostein
The parliamentarians denounced the obstacles to freedom of movement in the Schengen area, a real chaos according to the Belgian Petra de Sutter, president of the committee of the internal market.
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After their holidays, Belgian tourists returning from Spain must respect 14 days of quarantine, against only 10 days for Dutch tourists, and zero for the French.
For us Belgians, the whole of Spain is considered a red zone, but not for the French authorities.
We cannot explain these differences in approach to our citizens
”.
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National egoisms
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According to MEPs, therefore, it is necessary to define common criteria to identify risk areas, establish a three-color map, updated once a week, as proposed by the European Commission, and move forward on mutual recognition of tests.
The survival of the Schengen area depends on the French deputy, Véronique Trillet Lenoir, doctor by training.
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The health crisis must not be used as an excuse for national selfishness and lack of solidarity
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In the sights of MEPs, Hungary, which closed its borders to non-residents until the end of September with the exception of Czech, Slovak and Polish tourists.
Whether you're Dutch, French or Belgian, the measures taken to tackle COVID-19 are different everywhere.
As a result, companies and travelers live in uncertainty, while the virus itself makes no distinction.
I ask the @EU_Commission for uniform guidelines in all Member States👇 pic.twitter.com/vg9Spg9WyV
Petra De Sutter (@pdsutter) September 15, 2020
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