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TRAVEL NEWS

France publishes initial relaxation in UK travel restrictions

The day after the announcement that France would look to relax its strict travel restrictions for the UK, the first alteration of the rules was announced.

Published: 6 January 2022 19:32 CET
Updated: 7 January 2022 13:30 CET
France publishes initial relaxation in UK travel restrictions
Photo: Tolga Akmen/AFP

Although travel between France and the UK is still only allowed for essential reasons, the list of accepted reasons was on Thursday evening expanded to include work trips.

A work trip that cannot be postponed will now be allowed, with an attestation from the employer stating that the trip is essential. The new rule covers travel both to and from France, and takes effect immediately.

Also added to the list of allowed reasons for travel is people passing through France on their way to their home in another EU country. Previously this had only been allowed for EU citizens, leaving Brits who live in another EU country unable to travel through France to get home. 

The change was welcomed by Alexandre Holroyd, the MP responsible for French citizens living in northern Europe, including the UK, saying it was “a first step in easing travel restrictions, which I continue to advocate”.

Those travelling for work will still need a negative Covid test taken within 24 hours, plus all the existing paperwork. Hauliers have always been exempt from the ban. Elite athletes are also permitted to travel for tournaments with the agreement of the French sports ministry.

Although a welcome relaxation of the rules, this will come as a disappointment to the many people who still cannot travel, including those travelling for family visits or compassionate reasons, tourists and second-home owners.

The UK is now the subject of the strictest French rules after African countries including South Africa and Lesotho were removed from the ‘scarlet list’ which was created at the beginning of December over fears of the Omnicron variant.

Travel between France and the UK is only allowed for people who meet the criteria for motif impérieux (vital reasons) – these include citizens returning to their country of origin or country of residence and – now – essential work travel. Find the full list of reasons HERE.

Those who do meet the criteria for travel face a mountain of paperwork and with all travellers – including the fully vaccinated – have to show a negative Covid test taken within 24 hours to enter France.

READ ALSO The 9 essential pieces of paperwork for France-UK travel

The rules also require those leaving France for the UK to for the vital reasons criteria.

The rules were put in place in December when the UK began to see spiralling numbers of cases of the Omicron variant of Covid, but since then France has seen its own record case numbers and the Omicron variant has become dominant, leading many to complain that there is no longer any justification for such strict rules.

French government spokesman Gabriel Attal said on Wednesday that the government was ready to relax the restrictions “soon” but stopped short of promising complete end to the de facto travel ban , speaking only of widening the categories for essential travel.

READ ALSO When will France lift travel restrictions on UK?

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TRAVEL NEWS

German train strike wave to end following new labour agreement

Germany's Deutsche Bahn rail operator and the GDL train drivers' union have reached a deal in a wage dispute that has caused months of crippling strikes in the country, the union said.

Published: 26 March 2024 09:55 CET
German train strike wave to end following new labour agreement

“The German Train Drivers’ Union (GDL) and Deutsche Bahn have reached a wage agreement,” GDL said in a statement.

Further details will be announced in a press conference on Tuesday, the union said. A spokesman for Deutsche Bahn also confirmed that an agreement had been reached.

Train drivers have walked out six times since November, causing disruption for huge numbers of passengers.

The strikes have often lasted for several days and have also caused disruption to freight traffic, with the most recent walkout in mid-March.

In late January, rail traffic was paralysed for five days on the national network in one of the longest strikes in Deutsche Bahn’s history.

READ ALSO: Why are German train drivers launching more strike action?

Europe’s largest economy has faced industrial action for months as workers and management across multiple sectors wrestle over terms amid high inflation and weak business activity.

The strikes have exacerbated an already gloomy economic picture, with the German economy shrinking 0.3 percent across the whole of last year.

What we know about the new offer so far

Through the new agreement, there will be optional reduction of a work week to 36 hours at the start of 2027, 35.5 hours from 2028 and then 35 hours from 2029. For the last three stages, employees must notify their employer themselves if they wish to take advantage of the reduction steps.

However, they can also opt to work the same or more hours – up to 40 hours per week are possible in under the new “optional model”.

“One thing is clear: if you work more, you get more money,” said Deutsche Bahn spokesperson Martin Seiler. Accordingly, employees will receive 2.7 percent more pay for each additional or unchanged working hour.

According to Deutsche Bahn, other parts of the agreement included a pay increase of €420 per month in two stages, a tax and duty-free inflation adjustment bonus of €2,850 and a term of 26 months.

Growing pressure

Last year’s walkouts cost Deutsche Bahn some €200 million, according to estimates by the operator, which overall recorded a net loss for 2023 of €2.35 billion.

Germany has historically been among the countries in Europe where workers went on strike the least.

But since the end of 2022, the country has seen growing labour unrest, while real wages have fallen by four percent since the start of the war in Ukraine.

German airline Lufthansa is also locked in wage disputes with ground staff and cabin crew.

Several strikes have severely disrupted the group’s business in recent weeks and will weigh on first-quarter results, according to the group’s management.

Airport security staff have also staged several walkouts since January.

Some politicians have called for Germany to put in place rules to restrict critical infrastructure like rail transport from industrial action.

But Chancellor Olaf Scholz has rejected the calls, arguing that “the right to strike is written in the constitution… and that is a democratic right for which unions and workers have fought”.

The strikes have piled growing pressure on the coalition government between Scholz’s Social Democrats, the Greens and the pro-business FDP, which has scored dismally in recent opinion polls.

The far-right AfD has been enjoying a boost in popularity amid the unrest with elections in three key former East German states due to take place later this year.

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