Covid-19: the Twenty-Seven pave the way for intra-European border controls
The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen at her press conference after the summit which was held by videoconference between the 27 EU Member States on January 21, 2021. AP - Olivier Hoslet
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The 27 heads of state and government of the European Union met by videoconference this Thursday for the ninth time since the start of the pandemic.
They discussed at length the implementation of control measures at the EU's internal borders for non-essential travel in order to stem the resurgence of the epidemic.
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The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, estimated this Thursday evening after the summit that "
all non-essential travel should be strongly discouraged
", "
because of the very serious health situation
" linked to the Covid-19 pandemic .
But she also asserted that it was "
of the utmost importance to continue to make the single market work
", that is to say to continue to allow the "
fluid
transport
of essential workers and goods across borders.
»Countries within the European Union.
Regarding the external borders of the EU, "
we will propose additional security measures for essential travel to Europe, for example by requiring a test before departure
", added the President of the European Commission, afterwards. a videoconference summit of the 27 Member States.
Concern about variants
"
We are increasingly worried about the different variants
" of the coronavirus, admitted Ursula von der Leyen.
The European Epidemics Agency (ECDC), which raised its assessment of the health risks associated with
these
more contagious
variants of the coronavirus
(British, South African), had already called on European leaders on Thursday to be ready to take measures stricter measures in the coming weeks.
In particular, she also felt that “
non-essential travel should be avoided
”.
The 27 paved the way for a common decision for the internal borders of the Union;
among the measures that each country is starting to introduce, Emmanuel Macron for example announced to his counterparts the introduction of an obligation to present a PCR test carried out 72 hours before departure for all European travelers coming to France (excluding travel said essential), reports our correspondent in Brussels,
Pierre Benazet
.
On the eve of the summit, the Europeans had managed to agree on mutual recognition of the results of tests, both PCR and rapid antigen, an advance validated Thursday evening.
PCR tests imposed in dispersed order
For the moment, the countries impose them in dispersed order and especially for the external borders.
The French decision is emblematic of a movement initiated by all the countries of the Union to contain the new variants of the coronavirus.
And to try to keep the borders open for trade despite everything.
The Commission is responsible for defining by Monday which are the essential trips with exemptions planned for land transport and border workers for example.
The introduction of PCR tests at borders is widely supported, in particular
by Germany
.
The idea of a vaccine passport is considered by most to be premature in the face of delivery delays and the official adoption at this summit of a mutual recognition of antigenic tests and PCR therefore paves the way for controls at intra-European borders. .
The question of generalized controls pending
The 27 have therefore not yet decided to implement generalized border controls but the question could come back on the table in order to stem the progression of the new British and South African variants.
Angela Merkel is not in favor of this solution, because last year's border closures remain a bad memory from Berlin, reports our correspondent on the spot,
Delphine Nerbollier
.
And yet, during a press conference this Thursday morning, the Chancellor did not rule out the possibility of this being used as such an instrument, as a last resort.
“
It is not a question of introducing generalized border controls.
We will try to avoid it.
But I am also telling you very clearly: when a country with an incidence rate twice as high as in Germany leaves all its stores open when they are closed in our country, that poses a problem,
”lamented the Chancellor. German.
(And with AFP)
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