In a live TV appearance on Monday, French president Emmanuel Macron announced a package of measures aimed at controlling a delta-driven fourth wave of Covid in France.
On the subject of travel restrictions he said: "From this week, controls at our borders will be strengthened for those coming from high-risk countries, with strict isolation for unvaccinated travellers" - but offered no further details.
However, some clarification was later published by France's Europe minister Clément Beaune on Twitter.
It appears that France is keeping in place its traffic light system, but imposing extra restrictions on three countries.
READ ALSO How France's traffic light travel system works
He announced a "reinforced regime" for travellers from the UK who are not fully vaccinated - a negative Covid test taken within 24 hours of travel, in addition to having compelling reasons for travel. This is a change from the existing regime which requires a test taken within 72 hours of travel.
Either PCR or antigen tests are accepted, but not home-test kits.
Parmi les pays ?, régime renforcé aussi pour le Royaume-Uni : pour les non vaccinés, un test de ➖ de 24 h est exigé au départ (en plus du motif impérieux) ???? https://t.co/iWM86mn2NJ
— Clement Beaune (@CBeaune) July 12, 2021
Existing traffic light restrictions remain in place.
This means the new rules from the UK are;
Fully vaccinated travellers - can travel to France for any reason, do not have to quarantine on arrival but do need a negative Covid test taken within 72 hours of travel. Travellers from the UK who had AstraZeneca's Covishield vaccine do not count as 'fully vaccinated' under French rules.
Unvaccinated travellers - can only travel to France for essential reasons (which includes French citizens and residents returning home), must quarantine for seven days on arrival and need a negative Covid test taken within 24 hours of travel. Find the full list of accepted reasons for travel HERE.
READ ALSO Can families with unvaccinated children travel to France?
Spain, Portugal and the rest of the EU and Schengen zone are on France's green list, but testing has also been tightened up for non-vaccinated travellers who now require a negative test taken within 24 hours of travel, not 72 hours as previously.
#Vacances | Parmi les pays classés ?, Espagne et Portugal feront l’objet d’une surveillance renforcée : le test exigé au départ doit être de ➖ de 24h pour les non vaccinés #prudence #responsabilité ??????
— Clement Beaune (@CBeaune) July 12, 2021
On Saturday, the government also tightened entry requiremenets for Cyprus, the Netherlands and Greece.
Plusieurs mesures aux frontières entrent en vigueur ce soir à minuit :
— Nicolas Berrod (@nicolasberrod) July 17, 2021
•test de moins de 24h (et non 48h) pour les non-vaccinés venant du Royaume-Uni
•test de moins de 24h (et non 72h) pour les non-vaccinés venant d'Espagne, du Portugal, de Chypre, des Pays-Bas et de la Grèce pic.twitter.com/6ssb8w18Ox
This means the new rules for Spain, Portugal, Cyprus, the Netherlands and Greece are;
Fully vaccinated travellers - can travel for any reason, do not need to quarantine or present a negative Covid test.
Unvaccinated travellers - can travel for any reason and do not need to quarantine, but must show a negative Covid test taken within 24 hours of travel.
Tests are required for all travellers aged over 11.
All entrants to France need to present a declaration that they are in good health - you can find the declaration HERE.
In travel terms, fully vaccinated is defined as someone who has received a vaccine approved by the EMA - Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca (but not Covishield) or Johnson & Johnson - and is two weeks after their second dose, or four weeks after the injection if they received the single-dose Johnson & Johnson injection (which is known in France as Janssen).
These rules are in place from Saturday, July 17th.
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