The Besançon administrative court on Tuesday suspended an order taken by the prefect of Jura which prohibited access to a car park located on French territory but serving the Swiss ski resort of La Dôle.
Considering itself "
taken hostage
", in the words of Gérard Product, responsible for tourism in the region of Nyon (Switzerland), the company Télé-Dôle, operating the ski lifts of the resort, the ski school of La Dôle and the chalet of Cuvaloup, restaurant located on the slopes, challenged in summary the decision of the prefect, David Philot.
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The latter took this decree on December 29, 2020, and renewed it until February 3.
He estimated that access to this modern car park, redone in 2020 and with 650 spaces, "
would have the effect of greatly facilitating the regrouping of people
" and "
would have the health consequence of facilitating the spread of the Covid-19 epidemic.
".
"
The virus affects the Jura department even more than the rest of the territory of mainland France
," he also argued.
Judging that the prefect had committed an "
error of assessment
", the administrative court considered on the contrary that the frequentation of the car park by the skiers was not
likely
"
to significantly increase the circulation of the Covid 19 virus in the department of the Jura
”.
The court noted "
the absence of any confined space in the open-air car park
" and pointed out that "
the activity practiced in the ski area in principle excludes any direct or manual contact
".
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Asked by AFP, the various Swiss companies at the origin of the appeal did not wish to immediately comment on this decision.