A statement from the office of French Prime Minister Jean Castex said on Tuesday that French citizens could return to France from the UK starting Wednesday, if they can prove a negative Covid-19 test in the last 72 hours. Other citizens living in France or the European Union will also be able to enter France from the UK with a negative test result.
“Airplanes, boats and Eurostars will resume service tomorrow morning. French citizens, residents of France and those with a legitimate reason must take a negative test,” French Transport Minister Jean-Baptiste Djebbari wrote on Twitter.
Fearing the spread of a potentially more contagious coronavirus variant, France was among dozens of countries that closed their borders with Britain over the weekend.
According to a statement from the UK Department of Transport, admission to France will only be granted “to those traveling for urgent reasons – including carriers – French citizens and British citizens residing in France”.
This new protocol will be revised on 31 December, but could remain in force until 6 January. All truck drivers will have to take an antigen test that can detect the new strain of Covid-19 and deliver results in less than an hour, according to the statement.
France will also test the sample for freight entering the UK, he added.
Vital crossing
The passage between the English port of Dover and the French city of Calais is a major European trade route, and the port of Dover handles about 17% of imports of goods from the UK.
As of Tuesday morning, about 873 vehicles were waiting at a disused airport, with about 650 vehicles on the M20 motorway, the UK Department for Transport said.
While drivers in Europe are not banned from entering the UK, they feared that carriers would resist doing so for fear of not being able to return home, leading to food shortages.
UK Transport Secretary Grant Schapps has urged truck drivers not to travel to Kent County, where Dover is, until further notice, while starting a mass testing program for HGV drivers.
“We continue to urge carriers not to travel to Kent until further notice, while we work to alleviate port congestion,” he said, according to the Department of Transportation statement.
The period leading up to Christmas is traditionally a busy time for trade, as fresh products from Europe are imported for the festive period. In addition, the UK stocks before the end of the Brexit transition period on 31 December.
On Monday, Sainsbury’s, one of Britain’s leading supermarket chains, said that if nothing changed, there would be a lack of lettuce, some lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli and citrus.
Meanwhile, the British government says it is providing food, drink and toilets to British truck drivers, who are currently stranded in the area around the Eurotunnel.
A Romanian driver named Adrian, stuck in Dover, told CNN: “A lot of people are vacationing here in cars … they can’t go home. It’s not good. We’re lucky because we’re here in Dover, but a a lot of people are stuck on the roads. I can’t go to the toilet or take a shower. “
“We don’t get respect at all,” he said, adding that if the freight trucks remain stopped, “no one will eat.”
Luke McGee and Salma Abdelaziz contributed to this report.