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Between Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 December, several European countries decided to suspend connections with the United Kingdom due to concerns about a new variant of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, isolated by British scientists and that could spread more easily than that. circulated so far in Europe. According to a calculation of Politician There are at least 15 countries that have introduced travel restrictions to and from the UK: these include mainly Italy, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium.
In the coming days the situation will be further complicated by the definitive exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union, which will take place on January 1, 2021. At the moment, a trade agreement has not yet been reached between the two parties, and Despite the progress made in recent days, the prospect of a No deal it is still open, as both British and European negotiators stressed yesterday.
For the moment, however, the most serious problems are caused by the interruptions of the connections decided by the European governments. On Sunday in Italy, Health Minister Roberto Speranza said on Facebook that he had signed an ordinance to suspend flights from the United Kingdom and prohibit entry to Italy to those who have passed through the country in the last 14 days, to avoid the spread of a new variant of the coronavirus. Speranza did not specify how long the suspension will last: at the moment it will be valid for two weeks.
The minister, however, added, speaking of the United Kingdom, that “anyone who is already in Italy, coming from that territory, must undergo an antigenic or molecular swab by contacting the prevention departments.” The decision to block flights was initially announced by Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, who wrote on Facebook that flights “with Great Britain” would be blocked, suggesting that flights departing from Italy would also be canceled.
France, on the other hand, as of 11 pm on Sunday, interrupted both civil connections in both directions and the entry of trucks from the United Kingdom. Passing in the other direction is still allowed, but truckers are unlikely to choose to enter British territory knowing they will get stuck. In the next few hours, “thousands” of trucks will be waiting for the reopening of the borders in the English region of Kent, writes the guardian.
British trade associations say they fear potentially “devastating” consequences for supermarket supplies and Christmas gift deliveries. In recent days there had already been queues of several kilometers for supplies before Christmas (and a potential No deal) by UK stores, as well as increased controls required by the pandemic.
Dover / Calais is a major crossing point between the UK and the EU and we have already seen massive queues. Stockpiling Brexit is one thing, Christmas fever is another, but closing borders for 48 hours is a real blow to the important supply chain.@RHARodMcKenzie@SkyNews pic.twitter.com/C4Lru6McWh
– RHA News (@RHANews) December 20, 2020
Many inconveniences were also caused by the suspension of civil flights. Across Europe, the measures went into effect Sunday night to Monday. The correspondent ofEconomist in Germania, Tom Nuttall, he said that on the last flight from London to Berlin, non-resident passengers were arrested and forced to spend the night at the airport. They will only be released this morning, after being tested for coronavirus.
Confusion could be fueled by Brexit in the coming days. On Sunday evening, the deadline set by the European Parliament to examine and approve a compromise before December 31 expired. It means that barring surprises, a potential agreement will only enter into force provisionally, which would require further negotiation with the UK on what to include in the provisional measures, or there will be a short period of “No deal controlled ”, until the European Parliament meets to ratify the agreement.
This morning the British government led by Boris Johnson will hold a meeting of the so-called COBRA, the small cabinet of the British government in charge of dealing with emergencies, to discuss the measures to be taken to limit the spread of the new variant of the coronavirus. It is not clear whether we will also discuss the possibility of a No deal in the Brexit negotiations. The European Union will also discuss the new variant at a meeting of the Council of the European Union, the body where the representatives of the 27 governments sit, scheduled for 11 a.m. Italian time.
‼ ️The German @EUCouncil The presidency has invited #ME Member States to an urgent meeting of the #IPCR Crisis mechanism tomorrow morning at 11:00.
‼ ️ On the agenda: EU coordination on responding to new # COVID-19 variant in the #UK ????????. #Coronavirus– Sebastian Fischer (@SFischer_EU) December 20, 2020
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