Tests, compelling reasons, isolation ... France toughens its border control measures with the United Kingdom

Travelers who were considering spending their Christmas vacation across the Channel may need to revisit their plans.

The French government announced this Thursday morning a number of decisions regarding the control of the flow of travelers, in particular from the United Kingdom.

At issue: the galloping spread of the new variant of Covid-19, Omicron, across the Channel.

"We are going to set up border control with the United Kingdom even more drastic than that which exists today," said government spokesman Gabriel Attal on Thursday morning on BFMTV.

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The progression of the Omicron variant in the United Kingdom has led the French authorities to take new precautions.

"It is estimated that it will become the majority in Great Britain, if it is not already, in the next few hours or days", recalls Gabriel Attal.

The objective is therefore clear: "to further tighten the mesh of the net to once again slow down, reduce as much as possible, the arrival of cases of Omicron variants on our soil".

Gabriel Attal (@GabrielAttal) announces that "more drastic border control" will be applied for travel between France and the United Kingdom pic.twitter.com/LIrZ7sGwMD

- BFMTV (@BFMTV) December 16, 2021

Reduced validity of tests, isolation and registration

Concretely, this new network at the borders will be materialized by several measures, starting with the reduction of the validity of the tests.

"We are going to reduce the period of validity to come to France: it was 48 hours until now, it will drop to 24 hours", indicates Gabriel Attal.

The government spokesperson indicates that it will also be a question of "limiting the reasons which allow one to come from the United Kingdom to France".

Travel between the two countries will "be limited to nationals, French residents and their families".

Consequently, “everything that is tourism or professional travel for people who do not have French or European nationality and are not resident in France, of course, will be limited”.

Read alsoNew Omicron variant: closing borders, is it really effective?

Note that these compelling reasons are required for travelers wishing to go to the United Kingdom as for those who come from there.

However, they vary from one situation to another.

The list of compelling reasons to and from the United Kingdom, communicated by Matignon.

pic.twitter.com/TLK40JinJM

- Nicolas Berrod (@nicolasberrod) December 16, 2021

Other potentially affected countries

If the development of Omicron invites "to be restrictive on the borders with the countries which see a significant development of the Omicron variant", everything suggests that France will also have, in any case, to deal with its rapid spread.

"In France there are 240 detected cases of the Omicron variant," said the government spokesperson.

What we know is that there are probably more, ”he concedes.

Other countries may be subject to travel restrictions to France.

Gabriel Attal referred to Denmark by mentioning the rapid spread of Omicron, without however specifying whether the country would be subject, like the United Kingdom, to increased control.