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EU Commission to ease Great Britain travel ban
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Thousands of truckers stranded in southern England
Due to a mutation in the corona virus, Britain is practically completely isolated from the outside world. But it’s not just the fresh food in local supermarkets that is running out – thousands of truckers are now stuck just before Christmas.
The EU recommends relaxing the total travel bans to Great Britain imposed by member states. Therefore, freight traffic and necessary travel should be possible again. Therefore, travelers should be able to return to their homeland.
reThe EU Commission has asked member states to lift strict travel bans to and from Britain that have been issued due to a mutated variant of the coronavirus. “Bans on air and rail travel should be suspended in view of the need to guarantee essential travel and avoid supply chain disruptions,” the Brussels authority said on Tuesday. Travel that is not absolutely necessary should be “discouraged.”
Due to the rapid spread of the mutated corona variant, especially in southern England, Britain had significantly tightened up internal pandemic measures over the weekend. Many EU countries responded with border closures and entry bans from Britain for at least 48 hours. Air and train connections have been interrupted. France also closed the borders to the traffic of goods.
Germany halted Britain’s air traffic for the weekend, initially until the end of the year. On Tuesday, the Federal Ministry of Health imposed a blanket transport ban until January 6 for travelers from Great Britain, Northern Ireland and South Africa, where the new virus is also widespread. The new form of the pathogen is supposed to be significantly more contagious than the old one.
Supply bottlenecks lurk in Britain
The British government was looking for ways to avoid a supply shortage on Tuesday. Before that, there had been traffic jams of imports from the EU to Britain because many companies wanted to replenish their stocks due to the imminent failure of the post-Brexit talks.
Ambassadors from EU countries discussed with experts on Monday and instructed the commission to develop recommendations for a coordinated approach. “While it is important to quickly take temporary precautionary measures to limit the spread of the new strain of virus, … important travel and passenger transit should be facilitated,” the agency said.
The EU ambassadors had agreed to meet again on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the Commission’s proposal and, if necessary, adopt it.
