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HOLIDAYS

REMINDER: What you should know before booking a trip to France from the UK

Holiday bookings in the UK surged after the British government announced its lockdown exit plan on Monday -but travellers planning a trip to France should take into account the current restrictions first.

Published: 25 February 2021 13:22 CET
Updated: 25 February 2021 14:58 CET
REMINDER: What you should know before booking a trip to France from the UK
Rules on entry into France from the UK are the strictest they have ever been since the pandemic began. Photo: AFP

Airlines including Jet2 have reported a sharp rise in bookings, after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday said that international trips could potentially restart from May 17th.

The tour operator and airline reported a 1,000 percent increase in bookings in the 24 hours following the prime minister’s announcement.

“The government’s announcement is the news [holidaymakers] have been longing for, and the continued surge in bookings shows how ready our customers are to get away to the sunshine on a real package holiday,” Jet2 chief executive, Steve Heapy, told the BBC.

The head of Channel Tunnel operator Getlink also said they had seen a surge in bookings after Johnson’s announcement.

But anyone thinking of travelling for any reason – holidays, second home visits or trips to see family and friends – needs to bear in mind that France currently has very strict limits on travel from the UK, which still have no clear end in sight.

There is no guarantee that France’s borders will open by May 17th, so anyone booking a trip would be taking a gamble.

EXPLAINED: Who can travel after France closed its non-EU borders?

Border police will be checking all arrivals. Photo: Martin Borman/AFP

Since January 31st, rules on entry into France from the UK are the strictest they have ever been since the pandemic began.

France’s non-EU borders have been closed and rules on European travel have been tightened, in an attempt to avoid a third nationwide lockdown and prevent Covid-19 variants, including the one in the UK, from spreading within its borders.

France’s borders are therefore closed to anyone coming in from outside the EU or the Schengen zone, including the UK. 

The only exceptions to the travel ban are people with motif imperiéux (compelling reasons) for travel, which include vital work and the death of a close family member.

A PCR test is required to travel and once in France, people are also required to self-isolate for seven days, and then take a second test.

The French government has not said when these restrictions will be lifted, but it looks unlikely for a while with a new increase in coronavirus cases attributed largely to new variants. It’s also possible that any decisions on the EU’s external border will be taken at EU level, as France has several times called for a co-odinated pan-European approach to travel rules.

France has also seen a spike in cases in the past week in some areas including Nice and Dunkirk, leading to new restrictions including regional lockdowns.

France still has strict coronavirus rules in place throughout the country, including a 6pm-6am curfew and mandatory wearing of masks in public.

Restaurants, bars, cinemas and theatres all over the country have been closed since the end of October.

READ ALSO: Will summer holidays in France be possible this year?

As the vaccine roll out continues, many hope that the fully-vaccinated will be given permission to travel, and some European countries are pushing for a vaccine passport.

France is currently running a public consultation on the issue of vaccine passports, which has proved controversial.

While the British government’s plan out of lockdown has provided some hope for summer travel, there are still questions about when and how travel will be able to resume, and there are no guarantees that this will happen by mid-May.

Booking holidays now therefore comes at a risk, since most types of travel insurance will not cover trips that cannot take place due to border restrictions.

Last summer consumers found themselves fighting for refunds after new quarantine rules were announced for UK travellers returning from France.

Keep up with all the latest travel regulations in our Travelling to France section HERE.

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TRAVEL NEWS

Reader question: What will EES mean for foreigners living in Europe?

The EU's new Entry & Exit System (EES) of enhanced passport controls is due to come into force later this year, but among many questions that remain is the situation for non-EU nationals who live in the EU or Schengen zone.

Published: 27 April 2024 07:59 CEST
Reader question: What will EES mean for foreigners living in Europe?

Currently scheduled to start in autumn 2024 (unless it’s delayed again, which is not unlikely) the EU’s new Entry & Exit System is basically an enhanced passport check at external EU borders, including a facial scan and fingerprinting.

You can find a full explanation of the new system HERE.

Travellers crossing an external EU or Schengen border for the first time will be required to complete EES ‘pre-registration’ formalities including that facial scan and fingerprinting.

There are, however, several groups exempt from EES and one of them is non-EU nationals who have a residency permit or long-stay visa for an EU country.

So if you’re a foreigner living in the EU or Schengen zone, here’s what you need to know.

Exempt

One of the stated aims of EES is to tighten up enforcement of over-staying – IE, people who stay longer than 90 days in every 180 without a visa, or those who overstay the limits of their visa.

Obviously these limits do not apply to non-EU nationals who are resident in the EU or Schengen zone, which is why this group is exempt from EES checks. They will instead be required to show their passport and residency permit/visa when crossing a border, just as they do now.

In its explanations of how EES will work, the European Commission is clear – exempt groups include non-EU residents of the Bloc.

A Commission spokesman told The Local: “Non-EU citizens residing in the EU are not in the scope of the EES and will not be subject to pre-enrollment of data in the EES via self-service systems. The use of automation remains under the responsibility of the Member States and its availability in border crossing points is not mandatory.

“When crossing the borders, holders of EU residence permits should be able to present to the border authorities their valid travel documents and residence permits.”

How this will work

How this will work on the ground, however, is a lot less clear.

Most ports/airports/terminals have two passport queues – EU and non-EU. It remains unclear whether the non-EU queue will have a separate section for those who are exempt from EES.

It does seem clear that exempt groups will not be able to use the automated passport scanners – since those cannot scan additional documents like residency permits – but should instead use manned passport booths. However it is not clear whether these will be available at all airports/ports/terminals or how non-EU residents of the EU will be directed to those services.

There’s also the issue that individual border guards are not always clear on the processes and rules for non-EU residents of the EU – even under the current system it’s relatively commonly for EU residents to have their passports incorrectly stamped or be given incorrect information about passport stamping by border guards.

Brits in particular will remember the immediate post-Brexit period when the processes as described by the EU and national authorities frequently did not match what was happening on the ground.

The Local will continue to try and get answers on these questions. 

READ ALSO What will EES mean for dual nationals

What if I live in the EU but I don’t have a visa/residency permit?

For most non-EU citizens, having either a visa or a residency permit is obligatory in order to be legally resident.

However, there is one exception: UK citizens who were legally resident in the EU prior to the end of the Brexit transition period and who live in one of the “declaratory” countries where getting a post-Brexit residency card was optional, rather than compulsory. Declaratory countries include Germany and Italy.

Although it is legal for people in this situation to live in those countries without a residency permit, authorities already advise people to get one in order to avoid confusion/hassle/delays at the border. Although EES does not change any rules relating to residency or travel, it seems likely that it will be more hassle to travel without a residency card than it is now.

Our advice? Things are going to be chaotic enough, getting a residency permit seems likely to save you a considerable amount of hassle.

Delays 

Although residents of the EU do not need to complete EES formalities, they will be affected if the new system causes long queues or delays at the border.

Several countries have expressed worries about this, with the UK-France border a particular cause for concern.

READ ALSO Travellers could face ’14 hours queues’ at UK-France border

Where does it apply?

EES is about external EU/Schengen borders, so does not apply if you are travelling within the Schengen zone – eg taking the train from France to Germany or flying from Spain to Sweden.

Ireland and Cyprus, despite being in the EU, are not in the Schengen zone so will not be using EES, they will continue to stamp passports manually.

Norway, Switzerland and Iceland – countries that are in the Schengen zone but not in the EU – will be using EES.

The full list of countries using EES is: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

Therefore a journey between any of the countries listed above will not be covered by EES.

However a journey in or out of any of those countries from a country not listed above will be covered by EES.

You can find our full Q&A on EES HERE.

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