To contain the spread of coronavirus variants, the German government has hinted that it could close its borders with France, where the health situation in Moselle is deteriorating, while Berlin is already filtering passages with the Czech Republic and Austria. This Monday, February 15, Clément Beaune, the French Secretary of State for European Affairs, opposed this hypothesis by declaring on France Info that Paris “does not want Germany to completely close the border” with France and calling for “consultation” to avoid this scenario.
“If Germany were to further restrict movement” to France, “I would like us to define together the widest possible exceptions. We have two major concerns: road transport […] and frontier workers. For these people, it’s a question of their ability to work and earn a living, ”said Clément Beaune. “We will do everything in the discussion so that there is no decision that is not coordinated so that there are no unpleasant surprises”, he stressed, indicating that he had to meet this Monday, February 15 with the three minister-presidents of the German border regions with France.
Asked about the concerns expressed by Paris, the German government indicated on Monday that it would “continue to observe the situation precisely. [sanitaire, NDLR] to continuously evaluate the measures to fight the pandemic ”. “Reinforced controls with border countries are not normal and are only put in place for a given period, depending on conditions linked to the threat of variants”, explained government spokesman Steffen Seibert, speaking of “last resort” measures.
Upcoming “tailor-made solutions” for cross-border workers
If reinforced controls with the Moselle are not excluded, everything will be done to avoid too much hassle for border workers, also assured Tobias Hans, the conservative leader of the Saar, a small region-state in southwestern Germany. , a neighbor of France. They could circulate on presentation of a negative test, he suggested. Regarding the German decision to partially close its borders with the Czech Republic and the Austrian Tyrol, “I do not believe that there was a debate with the European Commission”, for his part regretted Clément Beaune.
“Moreover, the European Commission recalled, since we spent some time coordinating our European measures, defining common rules, a framework, that this was not in conformity with the European framework. There was an exchange yesterday between the European Commissioner concerned and the German Minister of the Interior to explain this, ”he continued. The filtering put in place by Germany since Sunday created queues at the border with the Czech Republic on Monday, according to German media. The German Ministry of the Interior reported 10,000 checks carried out until Monday morning, half of which ended in defilements. A list of professionals authorized to cross the border has been defined, recalled the ministry, which ensures working on “tailor-made solutions” taking into account the reality of border residents.
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