“We will wait to see the evolution of the situation, but in Europe we have never completely closed the borders and we are not going to close the borders within Europe”, assured Clément Beaune, Secretary of State for European Affairs, Monday, November 29 on France Inter. “For now, we have to be careful and honest, we do not know the characteristics of this variant” Omicron, he said, considering however that we will have “European traffic preserved as much as possible”.
According to him, “our weapon is the health pass” and acceleration of vaccination. Clément Beaune also wants European coordination to request a test of less than 24 hours to non-vaccinated Europeans who move within Europe. “We have always tried to have a proportionate and coordinated system” at the European level, he added concerning in particular the decision of France and other member states to suspend flights from southern Africa. “If we suspend flights in France but our European partners do not do so, you have by-passes, people arriving in another European country and who can reach France”, he explained.
.@CBeaune on the Omicron variant: “We have always tried to have a proportionate device. Above all, we are trying to ensure that it is coordinated” at European level # le79inter pic.twitter.com/cqhO7P5FDR
– France Inter (@franceinter) November 29, 2021
“We do it in Europeans, it is 15 Member States, as of Friday, which activated the European emergency brake by suspending their flights until tomorrow [mardi] midnight”, continued Clément Beaune. The Secretary of State for European Affairs has promised that a “reinforced health protocol” would then be set up, estimating “that we cannot live 100% by suspension of flights, because we have French nationals who have the right to join the territory”. “But there must be a very strict protocol, of tests, of isolation, of all the people who return from these countries at high risk”, he continued, recalling that “these red lists” can lengthen, adapt, depending on the needs.
.@CBeaune : “For the moment, we have to be very careful and very honest: we do not know the characteristics of this variant” # le79inter pic.twitter.com/WZw6uw7T1y
– France Inter (@franceinter) November 29, 2021