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France appears to be willing to end the Channel-crossing ban on carriers that was imposed due to fears about the spread of the new strain of coronavirus.
French Transport Minister Jean-Baptiste Djebbari said a European Union-wide protocol would be adopted “to ensure that movement from the UK can resume.”
The UK has isolated itself from much of Europe, and some other areas of the world, as authorities imposed bans on passengers due to concerns about the most infectious mutant coronavirus.
The most dramatic intervention came from France, which prohibited carriers from crossing the English Channel with their cargo.
The move has had implications for Irish carriers using the UK land bridge to travel to the mainland, and Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said some 250 carriers were affected.
Mr Djebbari said: “In the next few hours, at the European level, we are going to put in place a robust health protocol to ensure that movement can resume from the UK.
“Our priority: protect our citizens and fellow citizens.”
Meanwhile, an emergency meeting of European Union health officials is taking place this morning on the risk of the new strain of coronavirus as more countries impose a travel ban from the UK.
This morning’s meeting of the EU health experts integrated policy response group for the crisis has been convened by the German EU Presidency and followed a video conference last night by high-level political advisers.
With more and more countries imposing a travel ban from the UK, the EU is ready to coordinate measures to handle the new strain of coronavirus if it takes hold in Europe.
The World Health Organization has already said that nine cases of the new strain have appeared in Denmark and one in the Netherlands.
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Last night, the French and German leaders spoke with the presidents of the European Commission and the European Council about the rapidly evolving situation.
Some of the travel bans are temporary and last 48 hours, but the new strain is expected to exacerbate an already turbulent situation around the movement of goods vehicles in and out of the UK.
Hundreds of trucks have been queuing for miles to enter both Dover and Calais ahead of the Brexit deadline at the end of the month.
A Polish government spokesman has said that flights from the UK to Poland will be suspended from midnight tonight due to concerns about a new strain of coronavirus.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Saturday that the new strain had caused a skyrocketing rise in infections.
His government tightened Covid-19 restrictions for London and nearby areas, and also reversed plans to ease restrictions over the Christmas period.
Reporting by Tony Connelly, PA and Reuters
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