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Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) urges keeping all European ski areas closed until January 10 to avoid further outbreaks of crown like in the Austrian Ischgl last winter. Italy also supports this.
Austria, on the other hand, wants to keep ski operations and demands a compensation payment from the EU in the event of an orderly closure of ski areas across Europe. “The current proposal means serious economic losses for Austria,” said Finance Minister Gernot Blümel of the “Welt” newspaper. On the basis of the revenue replacement, it assumes a compensation claim worth two billion euros if the EU establishes the requirement that ski areas must remain closed. Compensation for Austria could consist of the fact that the country would receive “more money” from the EU Crown Reconstruction Fund or that it could reduce its EU membership dues accordingly.
According to “Welt”, the ÖVP politician accused the big EU countries of making things too easy for them when they push for a ban or a recommendation from Brussels. “Our economy depends much more on winter tourism than Italy, France or Germany,” said the finance minister. Also, the most important part of the winter season in Italy and France doesn’t start until February. Therefore, these countries would be “significantly less affected by their own proposal” than Austria.
“We will not let Bavaria take our ski away”
Söders’ demand for the closure of ski areas across Europe by January also drew strong criticism in the Austrian state of Tyrol. “If the number of infections allows, we will not allow Bavaria to take our skis away,” Governor Günther Platter (ÖVP) was quoted as saying by Austrian news agency APA. Söder must also take note of this.
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz emphasized once again on Friday that the country would decide for itself whether to open the ski areas. “We make these decisions responsibly,” Kurz told a news conference. “But we have to fulfill them ourselves, because they depend on the infection rate in our country.”
According to the report, Austrian Tourism Minister Elisabeth Köstinger (ÖVP) said she does not believe in “advances by Italy, France or Germany”. At the European level, he sees “no legal basis on which to order the closure of ski areas.” Austria also does not give advice on when “in France the Louvre can reopen, in Italy it should open cafes or Germany should keep schools open or closed.”
Different rules in the Alpine countries.
Germany and other EU states are currently negotiating a common line between the Alpine countries. So far, the rules have been different: French Prime Minister Jean Castex announced on Thursday that French ski resorts could open during the Christmas holidays, but the ski lifts must remain closed. French elevator operators spoke of a “crazy” decision. As in all parts of the country, restaurants and bars in French ski resorts should remain closed until at least January 20, in accordance with the government’s crown requirements.
In southeastern France, several hundred people demonstrated on Saturday for the opening of the ski lifts and the restaurants and bars of the winter sports resorts. According to the organizers, around 2,000 people in the town of Gap followed a call from the ski areas in the Hautes-Alpes department. The police spoke of 400 protesters.
Montgomery calls for a five-day quarantine for all returnees who travel
Meanwhile, Frank Ulrich Montgomery, president of the World Medical Association, called for strict rules in the debate on ski vacations. “All travelers returning from EU and third countries should be required to quarantine for at least five days in each German federal state,” said the world medical president of the “Rheinische Post”. “Now only general and strict rules help, with no exceptions in individual countries. And of course, you have to control and test that,” says Montgomery.
Bavaria ended skiing in neighboring countries on Thursday. Anyone traveling to a risk zone, which is currently classified as the Alpine countries of Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, must be quarantined for ten days upon returning to Bavaria. This also applies to hikers from December; an exemption that was still in effect will be suspended as of December.
