France "is
considering
" how to allow its nationals stranded in Brazil to return if they wish while limiting the health risks as much as possible, the Secretary of State for European Affairs said on France 2 on Wednesday. "
We must always find an access solution for our nationals, that's what we will do in the coming days
”for the French stranded in Brazil, said Clément Beaune.
Read also: Flights France-Brazil: why the problem was not legal, but political
"
We suspend flights, it is an emergency and precautionary measure, and for the countries most at risk, including Brazil, we are looking to see if we can have [...] more locked systems than what We had before, where you would have the compelling reason, the PCR test and possibly a
forced
isolation
", for"
ten days or fourteen days
", once arrived on national soil.
This strengthening could be put in place in order to avoid an indefinite suspension of flights, which would hamper French nationals abroad: the government must find solutions, because citizens "have a constitutional right to return to our territory", stressed the member of the executive.
The executive also retains the possibility of reproducing this same device for other countries, depending on the evolution of the epidemic and the discovery of variants.
"
We unfortunately live at the rate of this virus
", requiring flexibility and adaptation, commented Clément Beaune: "
we can take additional measures
" if worrying variants are discovered, and in particular "
emergency measures
".
One limit, however: the Constitutional Council recalled, a year ago, "
that there were extremely strict legal conditions, verified by the judge, to impose quarantines
".
If possible, the practice is therefore framed by law.
In addition, behind, the State must be able to verify that the quarantine is well respected by the individuals: impossible, therefore, to extend it to all the countries of the planet.
"
We cannot do it in a generalized way, we can do it for a certain number of high-risk cases, in addition to our device
", qualified the Secretary of State.
On Johnson & Johnson, "
possible recommendations
" from the AME expected "
during the day
"
There is not yet any common European action on this issue.
Several European countries, like France, have suspended their air links with Brazil, according to the secretary of state, who cited Portugal and Spain.
Others could follow suit, like Italy, for which "
some signals of this nature
" remain.
Other countries, like Germany, "
prohibit entry or put in place very tough quarantine systems
."
"
You suspend flights, you have a lot of risk of circumvention: they have been limited because many European countries are taking measures
", noted Clément Beaune, who wants the Union to move forward in a more united manner on the subject.
Returning to the suspension of the deployment of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, Clément Beaune said he hoped that this would not slow down the French and European campaign.
"
We asked for a joint check from the European Medicines Agency, which is meeting today
."
Paris has received the first 200,000 doses of this vaccine, and is awaiting "
possible recommendations
" from the European Agency "
during the day
" to evolve on this issue.
